Harper: Identify
by AKAJipster
Summary: The Andromeda is looking for an engineer, only Harper doesn't know it yet. With all repairs completed and done, Harper can bask in the glow of the Andromeda being totally fixed and ready for action, he can finally relax, that is until the crew start firin
1. Chapter 1

Harper: Identify

Part 1

"So everything is ok?" Harper checked as he appeared with athleticism from the inner workings of the Andromeda Ascendant, it had been nearly fourteen straight hours since he had first entered Rommie's most hard to get to areas.

"All systems are working," Andromeda revealed, her image appearing on the nearby screen.

His feet soon clattered loudly on the raised deck, and he began to move along the walkway to the ladder, going some of the way to rejoin the more social areas of the ship, he couldn't wait to grab a sparky, some food and then rest until someone broke the ship again.

"So just tell me one more time, Rom Doll, because I never tire of hearing it, all systems are working, right?" Harper smiled with joy.

"I can confirm, Harper that all my systems are working perfectly and within specified criteria, in fact, I would say I've not felt this good since the day I first left dry dock," Andromeda confirmed.

Harper looked a little suspicious at the AI as she appeared on a screen he passed, unsure if she was mocking him or not, but finally brightened. "Well, that makes a freaking change," he offered, as he finally put back the tools that he had been holding into his belt and stepped into the corridor. For a moment Harper savoured the feeling of being back in a familiar and social environment, before continuing to walk along the corridor.

Feeling as though he was ready to take on the universe, and whatever it wanted to throw at him, Harper decided to bask in his own glory of completing his task for the day. "The spring clean, or if you prefer annual overhaul of your most precious and totally beautiful working parts, my lovely Andromeda, are complete for another year, thank the divine," he beamed with some pride at his own work. "All fusion oils vented, all gases," Harper hesitated. "Er, re-gassed, and all pumps are a-pumping, this ship has never been so freaking loved," he smiled and kissed one of Andromeda's corridor bulkheads.

"Thank you Harper," Andromeda almost blushed as she appeared on a nearby screen in the corridor, getting caught up in her engineer's enthusiasm. "I can report a clean bill of health," Andromeda agreed with a satisfied smile. "How long until my avatar is back online?" she then asked.

"The diagnostic has another five hours to run, so not long now," Harper revealed, as he continued to walk, and he also tried to figure out the shortest route to command from his position.

Rommie disappeared from the screen satisfied with his response, but a few moments later reappeared in hologram form in front of the engineer.

"Strange," she commented, and noticed Harper stagger slightly from her sudden appearance before him in holographic form.

"Uh oh," Harper feared, it was never a good sign to see the warship looking the way she was now looking at him. "What have you detected? I'll get right on it," he insisted, retrieving his tools and already looking to move. "I knew it couldn't last, it never lasts," he complained.

"My systems are still fine, Harper," Rommie assured him quickly, but she still appeared distracted and Harper didn't move for the moment.

"Then what the hell is it?" Harper asked confused, when Rommie failed to continue.

"Stay right there, and don't move," Rommie instructed firmly without explanation, and disappeared.

Harper frowned, and he looked around, tempted to ignore the instruction but instead deciding to humour Rommie, and he remained where she asked him to stay and decided to tidy up his belt.

* * *

Rommie appeared in holographic form on Command, in an area as to not draw attention to herself, as she observed Dylan, Tyr and Beka mid-discussion.

"Dylan, the systems may be working fine now but there will be a time when they fail, we can't keep running like this!" Beka Valentine's voice was raised, as she stood in front of Dylan Hunt, on command.

"We need an engineer full time, it is ridiculous that we have gone this far without one," Tyr supported now from his position by the weapons controls. "It makes little sense to continue this quest of yours when we are so inadequately staffed for such a mission! We have been caught out many times, how long will that continue?" he demanded to make his point known. "We can't keep relying on damage somehow fixing itself, one day we will push this ship too far!"

"We'll get an engineer, but we need one we can trust and one who will fit in," Dylan insisted, sounding tired and it was clear this was not a new discussion by the frown he now wore. "I am looking, but there are not many trustworthy engineers in this universe, I can't just take onboard the first one we come across!"

"Surely the academy has an engineer we can borrow for a couple of years?" Beka stressed, sounding at her wits end with the situation.

"The first years are just that, still in their first years, it'll be another six months before the first graduates begin taking commissions," Dylan explained, and sounded as though it wasn't for the first time. "We need an engineer now, right? Are you honestly suggesting we grab some kid from an academy that is just a few months old?"

Rommie re-appeared before Dylan in hologram form, she looked at each crewmember in turn with confusion to try and size up the situation, but their words failed to make any sense to her. "What about Harper?" She calmly asked, looking forward to the response with interest.

"Harper?" Dylan checked. "Is this an engineer we've worked with in the past?" he seemed keen to know more, but not familiar with the name.

"You could say that Dylan, Harper is my chief engineer," Rommie returned, her arms now crossed, as it became clearer that no one bar her on command had heard of Harper.

"Your what?" Beka stepped forward now, sounding amused. "Rommie, it's just us, we do not have an engineer, chief or otherwise, we never have had."

"Yes we do," Rommie said carefully, and slowly. "But it appears you have all forgotten him, and I have no explanation why."

Beka threw her arms up. "Just great, now Rommie's gone crazy and there's no one on board to fix her!"

"I am not going crazy," Rommie insisted. "Dylan, I am not sure what is going on here, but we do have an engineer on board right now, and his name is Harper," she gestured to the view screen and flashed up images and files to show them Harper, in the hope it would jog their memories. "In fact he has just completed a full overhaul of my most vital systems, and that is why everything is working perfectly right now."

"What the hell?" Beka spoke up, seeing a stranger amongst them. "Who ever this guy is, this kid, he was not on any of these missions you're showing us here, we've never seen him before!" Beka insisted, and the others seemed to agree as they continued to watch the footage Rommie showed them.

"He was a part of your Maru crew, he was instrumental in pulling me free from the black hole," Rommie stated confidently. "And he is a very competent engineer; he's saved us countless times."

Beka just looked at her. "If he was my engineer on the Maru, don't you think that I would remember?"

"Yes, which is why I'm confused that you have no recollection of him," Rommie responded calmly.

"Andromeda, this person is not a member of my crew," Dylan was half smiling now, almost amused by her stance but there was anger behind his smile. "Now I don't know where these pictures came from, or how they have been so well manipulated that you believe them to be genuine, but I can assure you that they are fake," Dylan insisted. "In fact I think you should go into a self diagnostic and I think we should find this kid and deal with him."

"I am not crazy, and I will prove that Harper is a member of this crew," Andromeda insisted, and blinked out of sight.

"Beka, Tyr, I think we'll have to take the Andromeda AI offline for a while, certainly for non-vital systems, can you manage that?" Dylan asked, and then looked over with surprise towards the doors as they opened, and a short scruffy human stepped on command with a confidence and cockiness that Dylan became instantly suspicious of. "Andromeda," Dylan barked, as the kid continued to walk towards them, with an air of arrogance and too much familiarity.

Rommie blinked back into sight. "This, captain, is Seamus Harper our ships engineer," she stated.

"Rommie?" Harper finally spoke up, now confused, first she had ordered him to stand in the middle of a corridor and now she was introducing him to Dylan.

"No further," Dylan ordered drawing his force lance on Harper, and gesturing for him to stop his approach.

Harper froze and looked around as Beka drew her force lance on him too. "Jeez what is this, practical joke time, payback for that orange slime show incident last month?" Harper asked with confusion. "First Rommie is telling me where I can or can't stand, and now you," Harper paused, and saw that none of the crew seemed to even be looking as though they would be attempting a smile anytime soon. "You're actually threatening me?" he questioned unsure.

"Tyr," Dylan gestured.

Harper suddenly became aware of something being very wrong when Tyr roughly took his wrists, and secured them tightly together behind his back. "Ow, for freaks sake, what the hell is going on?" he looked to Rommie, who could only look apologetic and shrug in reply.

"I see no weapons," Dylan stated, looking at Harper with contempt.

"Captain," Rommie then turned to Dylan. "I'm not sure what has happened, but Harper is not a threat to us, and he is a part of this crew."

"I know what has happened, obviously this kid has decided to have some fun with your systems and make you believe that he is a member of this crew," Dylan accused and stepped closer to Harper, with suspicion. "Well tough break kid, you can't reprogram us in the same way to make us believe your games."

"Boss, I am the engineer on this ship," Harper spoke up, with an unthreatening stance in the hope it would convince the normally reasonable captain. "Listen to your ever so gorgeous ship, you normally do, I'm not some stupid kid who's playing games," he insisted, and then grimaced feeling Tyr's hold growing impatient. "I mean give me some credit, what you're suggesting is a stupid plan!" he protested, and immediately regretted it as he felt Tyr tug at his arms. "Ow," he complained.

"We can't trust him," Beka spoke up with suspicion now. "He looks human, and he looks trouble," she observed.

"Beka," Harper genuinely felt hurt as he heard his friend speak.

Beka didn't appreciate Harper's familiarity. "He could know too much, we don't know how long he's been on board but I'm guessing enough time to trick Rommie, this certainly appears to have been well planned," Beka continued to observe, and then she looked Harper up and down. "But this kid is a joke, trying his luck, and maybe he got this far but no further."

"And his over confidence has been his downfall," Dylan looked at Harper. "I give you some credit, you've infiltrated a high guard ship and by all accounts convinced her that you are her engineer, but I don't like hackers, especially not those that mess with my ship," Dylan confirmed. "Tyr, take him to the brig."

"I'm not a kid, or a hacker, at least not anymore on both counts," Harper insisted, and looked desperately around to Rommie to fix this mess. "Rom doll," he said with pleading in his voice.

"Captain, please, listen to me," Rommie requested. "Harper is my engineer I have many files to back up this claim, and you can take this to the council, to any of our member worlds and they will confirm this."

"He's good," Dylan was forced to admit, seeing how convinced his ship was about the boy's status on board. "I'm sorry, Andromeda," Dylan spoke sincerely. "But this kid has damaged your systems to make you believe he is a member of our crew, and we've been compromised, so I can not listen to you until the damage is repaired," Dylan authorised. "Beka set a course to Sinti, I'm putting the ship into dry dock, and in the mean time, sorry Rommie but I have to request that you shut down all but the vital operating systems."

"Andromeda is in perfect working order!" Harper argued, as Tyr dragged him back towards the exit.

"Understood, Captain," Rommie conceded and disappeared.

"Perfect," Tyr remarked. "Now we not only fail to have a competent engineer on board, we're now defenceless and without AI support whilst we travel to Sinti, remind me again why being on this crew is a benefit to me," Tyr complained.

"Dylan, listen to me, I'm not the enemy I am the engineer!" Harper stressed with more passion, his panic rising now Rommie was shutting down. "The ship is in perfect working order," he protested. "For once anyway," he added. "Don't shut Rommie down, Tyr's right, doing that puts us it a real freaky position and you don't even know who the hell I am do you?" Harper realised mid-sentence as Dylan just coldly stared at him.

"Want me to deal with this?" Beka asked towards Dylan.

Dylan looked at Beka with a nod of his head. "Find out who he's working for, why and where he's come from, then we'll hand him over to the council to deal with," Dylan stated. "And if he is just a kid trying to bag himself a job, make sure he understands that he has gone about it in completely the wrong way."

"Understood," Beka stressed, and began to follow Tyr who still held Harper firmly.

"And Tyr," Dylan called out from command. "Try not to break him too badly, we're still the good guys remember?"

"You're the good guy," Tyr complained under his breath as they walked away. "I just always do a good job," he stressed and tugged at Harper painfully to make his point clear.

Harper grimaced, not enjoying Tyr's close attentions. "Beka please, listen to me, something has happened and in my experience, when that something happens its real bad for the ship, we have to keep Rommie online," Harper spoke with concern, as they walked. "Tyr, big guy, come on, this is no longer a joke. Self preservation guy, come on, you know we're compromised right now!"

"Too right," Beka snapped. "It's you who has compromised our systems, and we're not laughing."

"I fix the systems!" Harper said with frustrations. "Beka, look, I know you, you're the captain of the Eureka Maru, your family used to call you Rocket, Vex Peg used to be on your crew," he continued, hoping his words would convince her that he was her friend.

"The more you speak, the more you reveal about how much you know about me, and that is just giving me more reason to just kill you," Beka returned bluntly. "I do not like wise guys, I do not like people messing with my ride, understand that, kid?"

Harper immediately shut up and the shock of her words hit him hard. He had seen both Tyr and Beka dealing with suspected criminals in his time, and now he was one in their eyes. He began to fear for his safety, he feared whatever had caused the crew to forget him, and more importantly he was beginning to fear the crew themselves.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Part 2

Trance walked onto command and saw only Dylan stood at his station, they were on high alert but this did not reflect what she was seeing, there was no obvious sign of attack that she could see.

"Dylan, what is going on?" Trance asked.

"We have an intruder onboard, and he's good, infiltrated the system enough to convince Andromeda that he's a crew member, can you believe that?" Dylan questioned.

"I can not," Trance offered and with surprise, she hadn't sensed anything out of the ordinary.

"I've shut Rommie down to only vital systems, we're heading to Sinti to go into dry dock to fix the problem with her AI code," Dylan added.

"Doesn't that make us more vulnerable to attack, shutting Rommie down to vital systems only?" Trance showed her confusion. "Why can't Harper reverse the damage, is he ok?" she innocently asked.

Dylan snapped his attention to Trance. "It was this Harper character that caused the damage."

Trance paused and tried to read Dylan's expression, his choice of words suggested that he didn't know Harper, but how was that possible? His tone reflected anger towards her friend.

"Dylan, are you saying that Harper is the intruder?" she asked with care.

"You seem to know him," Dylan now stepped forward.

"I do, Dylan, he's my friend and a member of this crew," Trance returned calmly.

"Not you as well," Dylan sighed, as he shook his head. "How was he able to trick you, Trance?"

"No tricks Dylan, but if I'm reading this correctly, if you are unable to remember Harper then it is you who has been affected by an outside influence," Trance assured him. "Seamus Harper is our chief engineer."

"We have no chief engineer, Trance, you know that we've never had an engineer, that is why Beka and Tyr are constantly on my case to find one," Dylan argued. "It's why this ship is forever in dry dock or at seedy drifts being repaired."

"The last drift we visited was over three weeks ago," Trance answered.

"It was yesterday," Dylan corrected. "We needed to fix propulsion engines, remember?"

"We have an engineer on board, Dylan, and his name is Harper," Trance insisted.

"Normally Trance I do not question you, but on this occasion you are wrong," Dylan returned. "I'm not sure how you have been affected by this boy, but the fact you have makes him even more dangerous to us, he could be using some bio-weapon," Dylan figured and frowned. "I can't trust you Trance whilst you believe he is who you think he is," Dylan stated, before looking up briefly. "Andromeda, warn Beka and Tyr to take extreme caution with our prisoner, he has managed to influence Trance, order them to check for any drugs or bio weapons."

Trance looked on calmly, and didn't protest as Dylan gestured to her to follow him, and she assumed that they were going to the brig. Her mind raced with possibilities, why had the crew seemingly forgotten Harper?

"Dylan, do you truly believe I can be influenced by this 'boy' in the way you are suggesting?" Trance questioned, she needed to know as much as she could so she could help Harper.

"I don't know what to think, I have never come across such a brilliant act of terrorism as this, the boy is good, Andromeda was as convinced as you about his status on board," Dylan recounted with mild disbelief. "I want to know what his target is, and why, and if he can do this to the ship what is he truly capable of?"

Trance couldn't hide her amused smile, knowing that Harper would enjoy hearing Dylan speak of him with such admiration, and fear. "Why would this 'boy' do such a thing, if all it succeeded in doing was to grant him the role of engineer on this ship? Surely, if he truly wanted to take over this ship, he would have laid claim to the position of captain," Trance shrugged. "If he is as good as you claim," she asked.

"Because, Trance," Dylan said as fact. "That position is already taken by me, Rommie wouldn't have brought his story so easily, but we have not had an engineer on board since the black hole, so it was the easiest command crew position to infiltrate," he stated confidently.

Trance considered the response, and agreed that it nearly made sense, she however knew the truth and couldn't help but test her captain further. "If all he wanted was to be the engineer, to infiltrate the ship in the way you suggest, then all he had to do was apply for the position in the normal manner. Why has he gone to such lengths to hack into the systems, to plant false information or drug me when there was an easier way in?" she asked calmly. "He is good, and you have seen that, so he would have had a good chance at landing the job."

"Trance, you are not making this any easier," Dylan spoke with agitation, and Trance knew she was making the captain reconsider his thoughts.

"Then maybe that's because you are making this more complicated than it actually is," Trance offered. "Why can you not believe that it is you, Beka and Tyr who are wrong or have been influenced? Why go with the more complicated theory?"

"I am not wrong about this, that kid has done this," Dylan insisted now, and Trance sighed, knowing she had a tougher job ahead in order to help Harper.

"Then do tell me in more detail how he has managed to reprogram my mind, my memories, to believe he is Seamus Zelazny Harper, from Earth, and that he is our chief engineer," Trance questioned.

"From Earth?" Dylan checked almost in disbelief, and Trance realised that even though he had been out of action for three hundred years, that he had done his homework. "Hang on, Earth is nothing more than refugee camps and despair, under Dragan rule, no kid could come from there with the abilities he has shown. Pull the other one Trance, he's playing games with you, he must have a twisted sense of humour to feed you that story," Dylan stated as fact. "Now tell me who is making this complicated?"

"Dylan," Trance spoke with care. "Be careful, you may not remember Harper now, but you will in time and what you say now could cause damage beyond repair if you choose to say these things to Harper," she spoke with genuine concern. "Do not judge him by his background; he has nothing to prove to you, Dylan."

Dylan just looked around with amused disbelief, and then saw that Trance was not joking. "Trance, you can not expect me to believe that a kid from that background is serving as my engineer, no high guard ship in this time would have a human from Earth as its engineer, that place is a slave planet unless I've missed a communication from the council," Dylan claimed. "I think you will owe me an apology when we get to the bottom of this."

"I think it will be you owing Harper an apology, Dylan, please just give him a chance to explain, do not judge him because you do not fully understand things at this time," Trance simply said as they arrived at the brig.

"Oh I understand a threat when I see one, I understand that we have some cocky half wit on board who thinks he can fool us into believing he is our engineer," Dylan stressed. "I will judge him, and I will act appropriately."

"That's what I fear," Trance said with sadness, as she followed Dylan to the cell where Harper was being held.

* * *

Harper was pushed into the brig, but Tyr did not release the hold he still had on his wrists. Beka moved around and stood in front of him, her stare beating down on him and showing none of the usual fondness, he was nothing but a stranger to her. With rising panic Harper attempted to remain casual in his stance, but the intimidation of Tyr and Beka did not make it easy.

"So who the hell are you? What did you do to this ship, and what did you do to Trance?" Beka asked with harshness in her voice, and she made it clear that her finger was on the trigger of her weapon, should he have any mad ideas.

"Trance?" Harper asked concerned, knowing that Beka had taken a message from the captain but he had been unable to listen in to it due to Tyr marching him so freaking fast down the corridor, and he was now wondering what had happened to her.

"Trance, gold, red dreads, you can't miss her and you obviously haven't," Beka sneered. "She is our environmental officer, and somehow it seems you've managed to convince her that you are a part of this crew," Beka stated, her tone cold.

"She hasn't forgotten me," Harper said with hope in his voice.

"Don't act so proud, kid, I'm not impressed by your stupid games," Beka snapped, and grabbed one of Harper's shoulders.

Harper had long forgotten this Beka, the untrusting version that so many people see in her life, but he had long ago broken through that exterior to become a friend. Being back in this position was daunting, and Harper found it difficult now to respond to her as a stranger.

"You also know who I am Beka, deep down," he found himself responding, and it was the wrong answer as he felt his body shake, Tyr had taken exception to his answer.

"Let's get this over with," Beka was speaking to Tyr, and she began to roughly pat Harper's torso, searching for substances or weapons that he could use against them.

"Ow!" Harper complained to Beka's rough handling, Tyr still held him by his wrists and Beka continued to jostle him. Beka now removed the belt that held his tools, and she threw it to the floor. "Hey! Be careful with that!" he complain but soon shut up as Beka moved further down, inwardly he tried to block out the fact Beka was paying far too close attention to his lower regions now and he took some deep breaths to distract his thoughts.

"He's clean," Beka finally finished her search, much to the engineer's relief.

"Are you sure we have completely searched him?" Tyr asked, and tugged at Harper's shirt to make his point.

Harper eyes went wide at Tyr's words and he started to panic, becoming more animated. "No way, clothes stay on, you've searched me now, come on," Harper protested and looked at Beka, hoping that she was satisfied with her fully clothed search of him.

"He seems a little jumpy at your suggestion, Tyr," Beka said with an amused suspicion.

"I swear, positively absolutely swear that I am not hiding anything, please, I swear," Harper flustered now. "If there was anything to find you would have found it already, I don't exactly have a frame for hiding things," he gestured as best he could and then he sighed loudly. "Look this practical joke has gone on too long, you got me, ok? Funny, laughing lots now just quit it and let me go!" Harper stressed, as he struggled once more to free his hands from Tyr's iron grip.

Beka seemed to enjoy his squirming before she crossed her arms. "I'm happy for now," Beka stated, her eyes meeting with Harpers and seemingly ready to believe him, this time. "He's hiding nothing, but kid, we're not in a joking mood so you best start talking real soon," Beka warned and then picked up his belt. "I'll check this thing out, Tyr, you do what you have to do," she stated now distracted by the belt, and a need to find something to prove Harper's crimes.

Tyr tugged hard at Harper's wrists and he soon found his body twisted round harshly to face the Neitzschean, who suddenly appeared a lot bigger to him and much scarier. Tyr pushed him back into the wall of the cell, making Harper finally realised that when Tyr used to push him around that he did take it easy on him. Harper was now feeling the full impact of Tyr's handling, and it hurt like hell.

Wincing, Harper caught his breath as he glared at Tyr. How was he supposed to fight this giant, and this crew? He had no way of proving to these people who he was. What the hell had happened? Harper then wondered, something had made the crew forget him, but not all the crew had forgotten him, Rommie and Trance hadn't been affected, not that it helped him now. He had one angry Nietzschean bearing down on him, and Rommie was being forced offline whilst Trance was considered drugged or worse.

With despair, Harper knew that he had to try the only resource he could at that time, in some small hope that she could help. "Rommie?" Harper called out, and he realised that it was his last hope as he saw the anger flash across Tyr's face with his actions.

"Don't you dare act as if you belong on this ship!" Tyr roared with annoyance at the small human he now held firmly against the bulkhead, his hand pressed hard into the human's collarbone.

Rommie's voice was heard. "I'm sorry, Harper, I am operating only vital systems, I can not help you," she informed him simply, and he knew that she was being forced to follow captain's orders, but her voice gave away concern.

Harper let his head fall back, looking upwards as he tried to think of a way out, but Tyr's grip and apparent anger was growing before him. He could almost see the various methods of pain Tyr was conjuring up for him, in the uber's amused expression. Harper tried to remain calm, optimistic even that suddenly Tyr would remember, and would let him go, that this was all a big joke. The more the seconds ticked by however, the more Harper realised that this was all too real.

"What did you do to the ship?" Tyr now demanded, and pushed Harper back against the wall and held him there in a restricting hold, one hand easily containing him.

"I fixed it, that's what I do," Harper returned bluntly, almost with petulance.

"You admit to tampering with this ship? Where do you get such insolence, boy?" Tyr demanded angrily, and looked ready to beat him as his hand griped the lower part of his neck now.

Harper didn't respond, as if accepting his fate. He took some calming breaths standing tall to the threats of the Nietzschean, having decided that he couldn't say anything to convince them that he was a part of this crew.

"Harper!" Trance's voice was heard.

"Trance!" Harper called back with hope, and immediately regretted it, as Tyr brought his hand up and backhanded him sharply. Harper fell heavily to the ground in a daze, gripping his face.

"No!" Trance's voice called out.

As Harper recovered his senses, he heard Dylan encouraging Trance to move away from the cell where Harper now picked himself up shakily from the deck. Tyr roughly assisted Harper the rest of the way up, taking no care as the human became closely acquainted with the wall once again.

Harper could taste blood in his mouth, and he felt the warm flow running down the side of his chin. He stared at Tyr, to him he still saw Tyr as a fellow crewmember, whilst Tyr stared back on him as a stranger, as the enemy. Just when Harper was expecting the worse, they were distracted by Dylan joining them and a simple gesture from the captain made Tyr step aside, and away from Harper.

Dylan seemed to be sizing Harper up, as he stared at the smaller human who in turn attempted to stand tall and defiant to the threat around him. "What have we learned?" Dylan asked, glancing towards Beka before looking at Harper again.

"Nothing," Beka returned and she put the belt down, before moving beside Dylan. "He seems to take a pride in revealing just how much he knows about us, and this ship, and he is very annoying," she shrugged. "But he's clean, I've found no substances or any kind of weapon to suggest his true intent."

"No weapons?" Dylan questioned.

"Just tools," Beka frowned.

"His mind, and that port, those are his true weapons, and we can't take either of those away from him without it resulting in his death," Tyr stated, moving forward again, grabbing Harper's neck for a moment to make a display of the port. Harper jerked Tyr's hold on his neck away, and could only stare at his friends with shock evident at Tyr's choice of words and suddenly he sensed a whole new feeling of panic. Tyr had seemed amused by Harper's defiance, and likewise on seeing the fresh panic on the human's face, as he easily got a firm grip on Harper's shoulder preventing his escape.

"Did you search him?" Dylan then asked, and saw the intruder look away as he once again shrugged Tyr's hold off him, not that Tyr was trying hard to contain him.

"With Andromeda on limited power I didn't request a scan, so I physically checked him instead, but I couldn't find anything," Beka informed him. "If you want I could do a more thorough examination, Tyr has requested it too," she smiled with amusement glancing at Tyr then to Dylan.

"I don't think that's entirely necessary right now," Dylan confirmed, catching the mocking tones that Beka was directing to Tyr. "If you searched him, as is," Dylan gestured. "That's good enough for me, of course what you do on your free time," he hinted with a smile.

"Excuse me, but I'm an engineer not some freaking cheap thrill," Harper protested snappily through gritted teeth, but soon shut up on seeing that his friends still didn't seem to know him. They would probably see his continued objections as a threat, or worse, another act of arrogance that could get him shot if he wasn't careful. Already he had reminded them of his presence and the smiles they had worn at his expense had now disappeared.

"He could have stashed a bio weapon on board somewhere," Dylan suggested. "Tyr, see if you can retrace his steps and try and determine exactly when he came on board."

"Good luck with that," Harper quipped looking to the side with frustration, but confident that they wouldn't find any of the evidence they sought to frame him or determine when he got on board. They would however, simply find plenty of his personal belongings, stuff that he had collected over the three years he had been on board. There would be no way to explain how so much of his stuff had got on board, if he had only just arrived himself.

A powerful grip suddenly grabbed Harper's chin, and he found himself looking straight at Tyr. "Are you challenging us?"

"Just saying," Harper managed to speak with genuine terror through the hold on his jawbone that Tyr had, the Nietzschean released his hold a little to allow Harper to speak. "You'll find plenty of my things, that's because I live here, this is my home. So go to my quarters, go to the machine shops, find all my stuff, and then explain how I was able to bring all that on board if I've only just arrived!" he fumed. "Whilst you're at it check the Maru too, top bunk, some great shots of me and Beka on Callisto Drift up there."

The three just stared at Harper, unable to quite know what to believe or say in reaction. Beka moved forward, a look in her eye that made Harper turn away before she grabbed him, and forced his head back to face her.

"You have photos of me?" she questioned, an anger lacing her voice. "What? Are some kind of stalker, some freak?" she asked accusingly.

"Of me and you, Beka, me and you, in the same photos," Harper corrected quickly, he didn't like the tone Beka was using, or the accusations. "We're friends, normally," he added quickly.

Trance appeared at the doorway and half smiled towards Harper. "I would encourage you to do as he says, to check his quarters, his machine shops and the Maru and then explain how he seemingly lives here, if you still claim he is a terrorist trying to take over the ship."

"Terrorist?" Harper checked, wanting to laugh but not daring too. "Me?" he doubled checked and Trance briefly nodded her head, but Harper was unable to say anymore with the ludicrous situation he found himself in.

Rommie appeared in hologram form. "I'm sorry Dylan, but I must add my voice to this, Harper has done nothing wrong, he is the ships engineer and he does live on board this ship as evidence will prove."

Harper grew in confidence now, as he moved forward and away from Beka, with the support he was being given. "You should be focusing on what the hell happened to make you forget about me, why has that happened and for what purpose because I for one don't like this one bit!" he stressed. "You have Rommie working at half power, you're a walking freaking advert for any would be actual terrorist to make a strike again us!" he stated firmly.

Dylan looked at Beka and then to Tyr, he stepped up to Harper and glanced at Trance and the hologram of Rommie, before focusing fully on Harper. "I have no reason to believe you, and I have no reason not to, but to be honest I don't trust you, or your motives, and I'm going with my gut on this."

"Dylan, your gut is wrong, you," Harper began but the captain soon cut him off.

"We will take you to the High Guard council, and you will be handed over to them for them to deal with," Dylan stated. "And I will order them to fix the damage you have done to my ship," Dylan confirmed. "No one messes with my ship."

"You'll be a laughing stock, Dylan," Harper finally spoke, with confidence to make his point known. "Everyone outside of this room knows who I am and I'm sorry, but it won't be me they take away," Harper stressed, and Trance moved beside him in a show of support.

"Harper is right, Dylan, the council will take this perfect opportunity to take this ship away from you. Deep down you've been suspicious of them looking for an excuse to take your command away, and by taking this action you are giving them a reason by claiming that you do not know your own engineer," Trance warned.

Dylan just stared at Harper, then at Trance as he considered his next move. Dylan finally turned to Tyr, grabbing Harper's shoulder as he did so forcing him to move forward. "Take him and check the areas he's mention, I want to know exactly what he's been doing on my ship, and for how long just keep an eye on him, don't let him out of your sight," Dylan ordered and pushed Harper towards the Nietzschean.

Tyr grabbed hold of Harper again with some satisfaction, and his grip caused Harper to wince again. "Jeez, do you have to hold me so tightly?" Harper complained bitterly.

"It's a sign that he likes you," Beka teased with menace, and Harper just scowled at her in reaction.

"You are not a guest, therefore you are unwelcome on board this ship, I am not fond of castaways," Tyr simply said and dragged Harper in front of him as they left the brig.

Dylan watched them go, and then turned to the others. "Rommie, I appreciate your input but my stand still applies, I want your AI offline except for vital systems," Dylan simply said. "Until we can be sure that he has not permanently damaged any of your systems."

"Understood," Rommie indicated, following Commonwealth procedures and disappeared.

"Beka," Dylan spoke up now, looking at Trance. "Keep an eye on Trance, if she has been influenced and the kid has a plan, I do not want any surprises," he motioned. "I'm going to check the files this kid has hacked, to try and find out about him, and his motives, no one is perfect so I expect to find his mistakes."

Beka nodded her head and Trance showed not resistance to Dylan orders, as she calmly left with Beka.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

I have started a thread for this story at my forum, if anyone has any questions or queries relating to this story – be sure to drop by and I'll try and answer! A link can be found in my profile.

thanks for all the reviews so far, I'm about sixty pages ahead of you in writing this and I can say I've really enjoyed seeing this grow, and where its going so I hope you'll stick with it!

* * *

Part 3

Harper entered yet another of his machine shops, and easily located items that were his to show to Tyr. They had been at this for nearly an hour, and Tyr didn't seem the least bit interested in the endless supply of evidence Harper was presenting. Harper picked up a crate of Sparky, and grinned at Tyr. "So, who on this ship is the resident drinker of these, huh?" Harper asked, then put them down and grabbed one when Tyr didn't respond.

Tyr moved quickly and snatched the can off him, before Harper had a chance to open it and he threw it across the room. Seconds later, Harper felt a large hand around his throat and it began to press down deep to block his airway.

"Tyr?" Harper questioned catching his breath.

"What is your purpose here, just tell me and save yourself some pain!" Tyr demanded with force. "I'm tiring of your voice and tricks, you will not fool me!"

"With all your uber powers I thought you'd have heard me already!" Harper snapped, his voice strained, and he held onto Tyr's arms to try and release some of the pressure. "I just fix things, well actually more than that because I'm the resident genius, and I'm not a threat!" he seethed. "Jeez man, when you remember who I am you're going to be real embarrassed each time I remind you about this, and I will!" he warned.

"You know this ship?" Tyr now asked and saw Harper nod his head. "How well?"

"Like the back of my freaking hand," Harper strained to answer, the pressure building now from Tyr's hold on his neck, he could feel his veins bulging in his forehead.

"Then you will help me, if you do know this ship as well as you claim, you will hand it over to me," Tyr then declared.

"What?" Harper suddenly questioned, this had not been expected. "No way!" he stated firmly and soon regretted it as Tyr lifted him up off the floor and threw him across the machine shop.

* * *

Rommie appeared on the screen in front of Dylan on command, he was busy studying the files that he felt had been corrupted by the intruder.

"Dylan, we have a problem," Rommie announced.

"Rommie, what part of shut down are you failing to understand?" Dylan asked wearily.

"Captain, we have a problem," Rommie repeated, this time more slowly.

"Go ahead," Dylan looked up tiredly, and frowned.

On the screen beside Rommie, a feed from one of the machine shops filtered through and Dylan saw Tyr throw the intruder across the shop.

"What's going on?" Dylan asked with concern.

"Tyr has requested Harper's help to take over this ship," Rommie informed him and played back Tyr's request.

"Just great," Dylan stated with annoyance. "Why can't people just respect the fact that this is my ship?" Dylan said with frustration, as he moved towards the exit. "It's not a drop in centre for the power obsessed!" he continued to rant, as he left command.

* * *

Trance glanced at Beka, as she busied herself on med deck under the watchful eye of the feisty captain.

"So you don't remember Harper?" Trance ventured by way of conversation.

Beka glanced at her and shrugged. "Not a case of not remembering him, I've never known him," she stated assuredly. "Trance, what did the kid do to you to make you think you know him?"

Trance half smiled. "He became my friend," she answered honestly.

"How long have you known him then?" Beka asked with curiosity and suspicion.

"Since you introduced me to him," Trance answered. "When I first joined your crew; he was your engineer."

"That kid has never been my engineer," Beka argued again.

"His name is Harper," Trance reminded her, and she pulled a scanner and cautiously scanned Beka from afar, needing to determine what had happened to make half the crew forget about him.

"He is kind of cute," Beka admitted almost absently.

"What?" Trance checked she had heard right, having been immersed in the scans results and hadn't been paying full attention to Beka.

"The kid, he has a certain, I dunno," Beka now smiled coyly.

Trance moved closer to Beka. "Don't, Beka, please,"

"What?" Beka teased. "You have eyes on him or something? Come on Trance, give me a break, I've just spent the past two or so years in the company of Dylan and Tyr, I need a change of scenery."

"Not Harper," Trance insisted. "You may have forgotten you know him, but he hasn't, you'll," Trance hesitated as she tried to find the words. "You'll freak him out if you try anything."

"Oh really?" Beka questioned, sounding like she was up to the challenge.

"Beka, you trust me, yes?" Trance asked, and saw Beka nod her head in agreement. "Then please, just don't go there."

"Ruin all my fun," Beka frowned, as Trance continued to analyse the findings of her scan on Beka.

* * *

Harper winced in pain, catching his breath still on the deck of his machine ship, before then seeing Tyr approaching him with intent. "Tyr, I respect you big guy but I can't help you, you see I'm loyal to Dylan and well, this is his ship and not yours!" Harper protested, keeping out of Tyr's reach but only just as he scrambled back on the floor and dodged in and out of the furniture of the machine shop. "You'll thank me for this, later," Harper insisted, and again scurried away just as Tyr attempted to grab him again.

"How can you be loyal to a man whose ship you have already hacked into?" Tyr demanded. "You have the same aims that I do only I have the ability to succeed where you will fail, so join me."

"Join you?" Harper scoffed. "More like, do what I say and you won't be killed painfully and slowly!" Harper protested loudly.

The workbench covering him was pushed aside and this time Harper wasn't fast enough to escape the iron grip of the Nietzschean, as the uber pulled Harper up with ease. "Maybe you do know me well," Tyr half grinned at the success of capturing Harper.

"What's got into you, Tyr?" Harper asked, breathing heavily from the chase, and it felt like his arm would snap at any moment from Tyr's hold on him. "You fight alongside Dylan; you are on the same mission! I know you've never totally committed to him but this, this is mutiny, and I never thought you'd actually do it, Tyr! Suspected yes, expected yes, but not actually do, I mean I was kidding myself I know but," Harper stopped, knowing he was speaking too quickly, losing focus and babbling. "Bottom line, I don't want to be a part of this, sorry but I won't help you."

"You're an engineer?" Tyr questioned without emotion.

Harper looked uneasily at Tyr, but nodded his head. "Yeah."

"Do you want to be handed over to the council, or work on this ship?" Tyr asked.

"I already work on this ship!" Harper reminded him, and quickly found himself pushed against the wall again, and Tyr's hands gathered his shirt around his neck.

"Do you want to leave or stay!" Tyr roared, to make his question clearer.

Harper knew he was testing Tyr's patience, and he also knew that that was not a very good survival tactic. "Of course I want to stay but," Harper began but was quickly cut off.

"Then you shall work for me, is that understood?" Tyr demanded with force.

With resignation Harper decided to simply agree, knowing that if they reached the high guard council it wouldn't be him they took away, but if helping Tyr caused enough of a distraction, and delayed their arrival at the council, Harper knew it was a good thing.

"I'll work for you Tyr, ok?" Harper compromised. "But you can not tell the council about me, and you have to make sure Dylan doesn't either." It was the only way Harper figured to buy more time, and he hoped in time that the three crewmembers that had forgotten him would remember him. "And you have to return Rommie to full control, we can't have her working on half power, we're sitting ducks for every minute she is in that state."

"So you do have plans for this ship?" Tyr still held Harper with a firm grip around the base of his neck.

"I always have plans for this ship," Harper sighed. "I am this ships engineer, remember? Oh of course you don't, if you did you wouldn't be trying to kill me, well not so convincingly," Harper offered weakly. "And you know what, in all honesty I don't give a freaking monkeys ass if you do believe me or not, just return Rommie to full power," he pleaded.

Tyr just glared at him like the lower being that he thought Harper was. "You can drop your act now, it serves no purpose and furthers to only annoy me more, and that is not advisable," Tyr warned.

"Don't I know it," Harper remarked, and felt the grip press even more into his upper chest. "OW!" he yelled out.

"Less talk," Tyr simply said and began to push Harper towards the exit.

"Going somewhere?" Dylan now blocked the exit, his force lance in hand.

"Great now I get to be piggy in the middle of an alpha tug of war," Harper frowned with a heavy sigh, rapidly losing patience with the way the day was progressing.

Harper felt himself being pulled back firmly against Tyr, with an arm coming around his neck. Harper instinctively froze on feeling the Nietzschean's bone blades against his chest. Just as quickly Tyr armed his force lance and brought it to the side of Harper's head.

"I would step aside Captain Hunt, you do not want me to harm this small example of a human, correct?" Tyr confidently predicted.

Dylan looked at Harper, and Harper hoped he looked pitiful and weak enough to Hunt that he would allow Tyr to exit the machine shop without incident, knowing he'd be bang smack in the middle of any incident that might occur.

"So, you've joined up with this kid, Tyr, funny, I never thought a Nietzschean would team up with a mud foot from Earth," Dylan spoke easily. "A kludge and a uber, I've seen it all now."

Harper bit his tongue, he'd never heard Dylan refer to him like that and it hurt deep down, but he kept reminding himself that the captain wasn't thinking straight, even though it still hurt regardless.

"If that is his past, then that's where it belongs," Tyr remarked. "I'm only interested in what this boy can do for my future, at your expense."

Harper would have done a double take if his movement hadn't been so restricted by the hold Tyr had across his chest. Did Tyr just support him, and did he just give him a vote of confidence?

"He can't help you, Tyr," Dylan stated. "Look at him, nothing but a cocky attitude with arrogance to match, I'm betting this kid wouldn't know how to find slipstream, let alone fix it," he continued. "It's all a bluff, he's just a decoy to a bigger threat, and I'm willing to bet that he hasn't done half of what he claims."

"Yeah?" Harper protested in Tyr's hold. "Based on what evidence, huh?"

"Answer the boy," Tyr encouraged, seeing Dylan hesitate slightly.

"Just look at him," Dylan gestured. "You really think he's capable of what he's done, and to do that alone? Tyr, he's from the slums of Earth, he'll sooner stick a knife in your back than help you, his only skill is to survive and whilst he makes us believe he's an engineer, a hacker, a threat he remains alive," Dylan stated harshly, and Harper was struggling to contain his anger at the character assassination going on. "Think about it, whilst we squabble over claim for this kid, there's probably a whole task force on its way to destroy us. This human is nothing more than a worthless distraction, a decoy!"

Harper smirked. "Yeah, the send in the mud foot decoy form of attack, I hear that's real popular with the bad guys," Harper mocked with anger, not liking what he was hearing from a man he still admired, although he was struggling to remain loyal in the face of the verbal abuse he was getting. Harper realised immediately that it was a bad sign when he heard Tyr laugh at his remark. Dylan brought his force lance up and took aim, both Tyr and Dylan locked stares as they awaited the first move by either man.

"Get down," Tyr stressed, and Harper felt himself falling forward to the ground and above him the sound of weapons.

Harper pressed himself down to the deck, not daring to raise his head up even a millimetre in case he got caught in the crossfire. A few seconds passed and there was silence, Harper tried to see what was going on but he couldn't see either Tyr or Dylan now, had they killed each other he wondered?

Slowly Harper pushed himself up slightly from the deck, and he looked around. "Are we done?" Harper asked innocently, and still a little worried that they were not.

"Tyr," Dylan's voice was heard. "Enough, its time to talk. In this boy we may have a common enemy, so now is not the time to fight."

"Agreed," Harper spoke up. "Except that bit about me being the enemy," he quickly added, still pressed down to the deck.

"We should talk," Tyr agreed, and came into view but before Harper could react he felt himself being pulled up to a standing position. "The boy stays with me."

"I'm touched," Harper sneered, before he was pushed forward, and not for the first time that day, but this time he anticipated Tyr's actions and moved quickly to gain some distance from Tyr's hold. "But I'm not going to be some stupid uber pawn," he announced, now free of Tyr's hold and far enough from Dylan. "Sort this out between yourselves and find me when you remember me!" he stressed and before either Dylan or Tyr could react, Harper disappeared into a conduit, thankful that he knew his machine shops well.

Tyr and Dylan looked at each other. "I thought you had him," Dylan accused.

"He was closer to you," Tyr defended.

"Just great, now we have the biggest threat to this ship running wild!" Dylan stated with anger. "All because you saw a chance to try and play some mindless power game!"

"Moments ago you were trying to convince me he was worthless," Tyr countered.

"Well we don't know for sure, do we?" Dylan returned with frustration. "Either way, I don't want that kid roaming my ship!"

Tyr just glared at Dylan. "If the boy truly wanted this ship, he would have taken me up on my offer more willingly."

"What are you saying?" Dylan asked with resignation.

"That the boy's motives are not for this ship," Tyr answered.

Dylan took a deep breath and considered what he had learnt about the boy. "So what does he want?"

Tyr shrugged. "All evidence suggests that he wants to be this ships engineer."

"Over my dead body," Dylan said with determination. "I want him caught, we can not let this kid continue to evade us!"

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

Part 4

"Harper stop," Rommie spoke up.

"Rommie, I have to keep moving," Harper stressed with panicked tones, and moved further and deeper into the maze of conduits aboard the Andromeda.

"Harper, no one is following you," Rommie insisted and appeared in hologram form, and finally Harper stopped moving. "Now listen to me, you are putting yourself at risk by running renegade, I can not protect you if my captain orders me to deal with you, and the threat that he sees."

"He used to be my captain too," Harper said between hurried breaths, he frantically looked around, and Rommie saw for the first time how scared her engineer actually was.

"Harper, you need to calm down and remain focused," Rommie warned, but he remained frantically looking around. "I'm going to try and protect you," she said reassuringly. "My avatar will be coming out of diagnostic, so she will be online soon," she reminded him.

"Rommie," Harper noticeably brightened. "Hang on, if I've never existed here," he began.

"Then they do not know about my avatar," Rommie confirmed.

"I could separate her from your systems, so Dylan would have no authority over her," he stated quickly.

"Giving you additional protection until this is resolved," Rommie confirmed. "Plus additional proof that you have been on board for a lot longer than a few hours, can you keep out of sight for a few more hours?"

"Yeah," Harper hurriedly returned fully focused, now acting on his survival instincts and looking like he was not a stranger to this situation, as Rommie blinked out of sight.

* * *

"Dylan," Trance called out as Dylan walked onto command, with Tyr following. "Where's Harper?"

"Andromeda," Dylan ordered, ignoring Trance's question. "I want you to locate the intruder, and do not give me an excuse to order you to shut down completely until we are in dry dock."

Andromeda appeared on the main view screen and without question she scanned the ship before responding. "Seamus Harper is located in conduit five twenty-five, deck ten," she answered eventually, taking care to give a name to the intruder.

"Beka, Tyr, with me," Dylan gestured and the three crewmembers hurried back towards the exit of command. "Andromeda, I want deck ten's environmental settings adjusted to make it highly uncomfortable for our intruder, make it cold and the oxygen thin, and ensure all routes to other decks are sealed, keep him on deck ten," Dylan additionally ordered before leaving.

Trance looked on as they left Command, before turning to the hologram. "Andromeda, we have to do something, he'll struggle if those settings are adjusted," Trance stressed. "And if they find Harper," she continued with concern.

"I am powerless, Trance, I cannot defy my captain's orders," Rommie answered, her hologram flickering. "However," she added. "Should Dylan endanger his own crew, of which Harper is still on my files being a member of, then I can do something."

"So they have to endanger Harper before you can help him?" Trance checked. "Freezing him and cutting his oxygen isn't enough of a threat, added to that the witch hunt that is currently occurring?"

"Not yet, I'm afraid," Andromeda offered a frown.

Trance sighed. "Never before have I hoped for an enemy to appear from slip stream to explain all this," she glanced to the view screen but there was nothing. "What could have caused this?"

"I have checked all events leading up to the moment I first notice, and I have found nothing," Andromeda confirmed.

"Something must have happened, I can not believe that three members of our crew could just forget, no one can truly forget Harper once you've met him," Trance said with frustration.

"In their minds, it is us who are crazy for being convinced that Harper is a member of this crew," Andromeda considered.

"No, Rommie, don't you dare reconsider, Harper has always been a member of this crew," Trance insisted.

"I know," Andromeda stated. "But unless we find an explanation soon, I will have to consider all possibilities," she added.

"It makes no sense," Trance said with concern. "Andromeda, keep working on trying to detect anything that might explain this, a scan, a beacon, some force or fluctuation of some kind, something," Trance insisted. "The only thing I have really figured out so far is that Dylan, Tyr and Beka were all on Command together for much of their last shift, the same time that I estimate that they forgot Harper."

"It's a start," Rommie said with hope.

"Harper will be ok, right?" Trance needed reassurance.

"So long as he manages to evade Dylan, Tyr and Beka," Andromeda could only confirm. "Without concrete evidence to suggest that Dylan, Beka or Tyr have lost their minds, I am unable to give you temporary command, or stop them."

"But your files confirm Harper is a crew member, surely that is enough!" Trance protested.

"Captain Hunt is suggesting sabotage, and all my files confirm that Harper is the last known person to access my systems," Rommie frowned.

"But that's because he is the ships engineer!" Trance returned with frustration.

"A technicality that means I can not prove otherwise at this time, technically Harper has evaded an attempt by the captain to secure him pending enquiry," Rommie frowned at Harper's misfortune. "Until we can provide evidence to suggest that my records are in fact true and free of sabotage, I have to remain loyal to Captain Hunt, I'm sorry."

"Then I'll work on that evidence," Trance stated with determination.

* * *

Harper looked at his hand, and then looked away, before rechecking and he saw his nerves were on edge as his hand continued to shake. Closing his eyes for a second, Harper knew he had to focus and compose his thoughts, as he took deep breaths. The silence was deafening as he opened his eyes and stared blankly at the conduit around him. He had been finding it increasingly difficult to breathe, taking in large gulps of air, and it seemed colder now as he contemplated his situation.

"I need to separate Rommie babe from her core AI," Harper told himself, and he then remembered that Beka had taken his tool belt. "Crap, no cable," he hissed.

Tentatively he glanced in both directions down the conduit, knowing what he would have to do. He needed tools, a scanner and a jack cable at least. Harper moved slowly at first, all his old instincts kicking in as he approached a junction, and the Andromeda soon became like the old streets of Boston, when it was all about keeping away from the ubers in the search for food, now he just needed some tools but he still needed to ensure his own survival against the odds.

He paused a few metres away from an access panel, and Harper slowed his breathing till he was barely taking any air, fully aware of Nietzschean senses. Slowly he edged forward, and with both hands he gripped the panel and slowly removed it from his path, placing it quietly on the floor. His crew mates, if only they remembered who he was, would never quite believe that he was capable of such a skill as the art of being quiet and taking care, but he had no time to consider this as he nimbly pushed himself forward onto the deck in a forward roll, taking cover behind a unit.

Accessing the situation with concentration, Harper was patient until he was certain that no one was near his location. Slowly he moved in the shadows, thankful that the light was down, and he quickly located the items he required. As he gathered the equipment up Harper suddenly froze on hearing something, and slowly he lowered himself back down to the deck. With haste he put the tools in the various pockets of his cargo pants, remembering to breathe despite feeling panicked by what appeared to be a drop in oxygen levels. Harper then heard another more obvious sound, and he instantly tensed.

He had to keep moving, and not remain an easy target. Harper was now convinced he was not alone and he glanced at the open conduit entrance, knowing that whoever was in the room with him would easily guess his destination, and around that entrance would be the best ambush spot. Harper was not going to be rushed, and he began to guess that it wasn't Beka stalking him, which didn't make him thrilled, knowing that it was either Dylan or Tyr who was his opponent in this battle of wits, and he now rated his chances as pretty low against either of them two.

Harper now found himself with a clear run to the conduit entrance, it seemed too easy but he knew that someone was waiting to stop him. He closed his eyes; he needed to know who the opponent was that was tormenting his senses.

"OK, enough," Harper spoke up into the quiet room. "I know you're there just ready to shoot my head off its shoulders, but you know what? I'm not willing to play that game."

Silence greeted him, and Harper now figured it must be Tyr, as Dylan would never miss an opportunity of a war of words before any fight. Letting his head fall back, Harper had secretly hoped it had been Dylan, as Tyr had plain scared him earlier with his desires on taking over the ship. Harper wanted nothing to do with that plan; it was bad enough Dylan considering him the enemy without him proving it.

Before Harper had a chance to consider the standoff any more, he was outwitted as he felt a huge hand grab hold of his shirt and pull him up in one movement, before he was face to face with Tyr. Harper grabbed Tyr's wrist in a desperate attempt to free himself once again, but to no avail, and he looked at Tyr with concern.

Tyr got a firm grip on the squirming human, bringing his bone blades up his neck to finally get Harper to pay attention, letting the sharp ends dig into his pale skin. Harper was left to only grimace, whilst still holding Tyr's wrist, but he dared not speak and deep down he was seriously contemplating his fate at the hands of the first uber he had considered a friend, almost.

"Little annoying man," Tyr began, in a hushed voice and oblivious to any friendship he had once had with Harper, when they had fought side by side defeating the Magog. "We have an opportunity here to resolve our issues."

"Go to hell," Harper snapped, squeezing his eyes shut as he felt the blades partially rip into the skin around his neck. His memories sent him hurtling back to Boston, to the many times he had been threatened and tortured at the hands of the Nietzscheans and his past fears and frustrations slowly began to rise to the surface.

"Wrong answer," Tyr growled, sounding every bit like those ubers of old despite Tyr's many claims that he was different, and Harper was now struggling to see that line he had once mentally drawn that had agreed with Tyr's observations. All that had gone now, crumbled away, as Tyr appeared to be enjoying tormenting and hurting Harper. "Do you really want me to hand you over to the good captain?"

Harper composed himself, not wanting his emotions and fears to control his actions or voice. Inside he was remembering his survival instincts, and his fighting attitude that had kept him alive on Earth for twenty years. "Actually, I really want you to get your damn hands off of me so I can continue doing my job, as this ship's engineer," Harper stressed.

Harper felt himself crashing into the nearby unit, as Tyr threw him away with disgust at his words, but knowing the clatter of his landing could draw the others to his location, Harper simply protected his body as best he could before he scrambled away. An old if painful tactic, Harper knew he had to chance it, and the only way he could was by not having those blades in his neck. Now free, getting to the conduit was his best way to escape and no one knew the tunnels better, and with his small frame, Harper could easily navigate them with little problem.

Hearing Tyr powering up his weapon, Harper had no more time to decide on his next action and he scrambled to his feet, racing the short distance towards the conduit entrance, but the sharp pain suddenly erupting in his leg abruptly sent him tumbling to the ground in agony. Clutching his leg, he felt as though his entire left limb was on fire as the pain seared through his being. Catching his breath, finding it even harder to breathe now, Harper looked up in time to see Tyr approaching, and with pure desperation he attempted to push himself away, only to receive a well placed kick where the weapon fire had ripped into his leg.

With an ear piercing howl, Harper rolled over to protect the injury, and himself from further harm but felt Tyr pick him up roughly to face him.

"Have you reconsidered?" Tyr demanded.

The pain from his leg was too consuming for Harper to focus immediately, but when he did he just looked at Tyr with betrayal clear in his eyes, and it was a look from the human that caught the Nietzschean off guard.

"We used to be friends," Harper sneered, almost breathlessly. "And I use that term loosely," he added before Tyr pushed him away with confusion, uncertain as to why the kid was affecting him but satisfied that he had done enough to stop the threat with the kid so disorientated and in pain.

Harper however didn't waste the golden opportunity that the moment of doubt from Tyr had presented him, and without looking back he scurried into the conduit and didn't stop till his body all but collapsed, some ten minutes later. Breathing heavily, and sweating profusely, Harper wearily rolled onto his back, ignoring the pains he now felt as he attempted to recover his breath. Events slowly began to catch up with him, and Harper's face began to crease up as he tried to control the sudden rush of uncontrolled emotions that flooded over him, he wanted to both laugh and cry at the situation he found himself in, and his body began to shake as he rolled onto his side.

"Harper," Rommie's projection flashed into existence. "Harper, please respond."

Harper took a few moments to realise someone was speaking to him, and he coughed a couple of times as he regained his senses enough to remember where he was, hugging himself to stop the pain and the uncontrollable shivering. He could barely breathe, and he was feeling the colder air that seemed to suggest a drastic drop in temperature, standard tactics Harper numbly considered for capturing strays, but he shook his head, reminding himself in a mindless babble that he wasn't a stray or stowaway.

"Harper, you need to bandage your leg, stop the blood," Rommie advised firmly seeing near delirium from her engineer, and needing him to focus before he lost it completely.

"Yeah," Harper numbly agreed and with hesitant movements he focused on that task, taking off his top shirt and he attempted to rip it, but failed on his first few attempts due to the shock he was feeling. Then he focused on the blood trail he had left behind, all the way from the machine shop and a whole new shock took over, as he stared numbly at the distinct red smears that covered the conduit deck. "Tyr," Harper gasped, barely managing to talk. "Uber senses, he'll be able to follow that," Harper said, backing up and his eyes were wide in terror.

"It's ok, Harper, I have sealed the conduit from that direction, they will not be able to follow that path," Rommie assured him, as best she could as a projection.

"You're a doll, babe," Harper relaxed slightly, taking reassurance that someone was at least on his side. "I need to stop the flow," he then reminded himself and finally ripped his shirt to created some strips of material to tie around his leg. It took a while, with the pain and lack of strength but finally Harper, with Rommie's approval, completed the task and he soon turned his attention to the next task.

"I'm going to contact the council and ask to relieve Dylan of command, Tyr's actions against you more than support the fact that command has failed on board," Rommie informed Harper.

"No!" Harper practically screamed back. "You can't do that Rom Doll; you know the council will jump on that, you can't take command away from Dylan."

"He's ordered his XO and Weapons Officer to harm you, they are breaking a number of regulations with regards to capturing stowaways and identifying threats, and as a member of the Command Crew you have a right to protection and now they have physically harmed you I can give that to you," Rommie returned.

"Rommie, listen to yourself," Harper stressed, taking deep breaths. "Ok, so things are a little weird and scary right now but if you get the council involved, we'll lose a lot more than the blood in my leg."

"But," Rommie seemed torn.

"I appreciate you wanting to help me, but do you seriously think the mood those three are in that they'll willingly give up command? They'll just think I put you up to it, Rommie, it's best to just hope they snap out of it," Harper grimaced, as he tried to ignore the pain.

"If you're sure," Rommie didn't seem entirely convinced.

"I'll stay out of sight now, I promise, I won't return to the main areas until they know who I am," Harper stressed. "You know they all hate these conduits, they won't come looking for me here and I can wait, you wouldn't believe the patience I have when my life depends on it," Harper offered a reassuring grin.

"You should hurry in separating my avatar," Rommie then spoke with authority.

"I'm going to separate Rommie from you now, Andromeda, will take me less than two minutes to complete the procedure, more than enough time," Harper spoke with precision and a tone that suddenly lacked the usual confidence, and Rommie knew this meant he was in pain, and needed to focus.

"Be careful, Harper, I have to go now, Dylan will suspect and could pinpoint your position if I stay," Rommie informed him, and then blinked out of sight before Harper had a chance to object.

"I'll be seeing you soon," Harper simply responded, and he connected the jack into his port, before connecting the other side into the mainframe, slumping against the console, allowing his body the chance to recover.

* * *

Beka hated the conduits, but on Tyr's information she was prepared to crawl in them if it meant she could catch the pest that was ruining her day. Somehow the kid had programmed the blast doors to block his path from the machine shop, but she was working on the theory that he couldn't get far, not if Tyr had been right in saying he had blasted a hole right through the kid's leg.

A smile crept across Beka's face on that thought, the kid bugged her and was simply annoying, so she was pleased that finally he had got some payback for the crap he had done to the ship. When she had woken up that morning, Beka had not planned on crawling on her hands and knees through disgusting conduits searching for a cocky mud foot trying to take over the ship. If that ever happened, Beka considered, they as a crew would never live it down, no one from Earth could ever do such a thing, and certainly not on her shift.

"Andromeda, is there any increased heat detected around here?" she asked.

There was a pause, too long a pause before Rommie finally answered. "I am detecting a slight increase in heat in this area," she simply replied, but her voice didn't sound happy to be passing on the information.

"Don't go into too much detail," Beka sighed, suspecting the computer was protecting the hacker, more reason she considered to catch the pest. He was close though, and this made her move fast, and when she reached the next junction she saw her prize and smiled. "So, kid, you fancied a quick nap?"

As Beka approached him with haste, she realised that the kid was not asleep and she was reminded of past times. Getting closer she saw that Harper was in fact jacked in, and momentarily her mind was filled with memories of Bobby Jenson, the one time love of her life. It had always fascinated her when Bobby jacked in, how his body lay lifeless and calm, so vulnerable whilst his mind was elsewhere. Reliving her past Beka moved beside Harper's prone and injured body, and she tentatively checked his leg injury, seeing the makeshift bandage was doing its job well. Beka was now drawn to the calm features of the boy, and was reminded of her initial interest in the kid that Trance had warned her away from.

With a wicked smile, Beka couldn't help herself and she ordered Andromeda to initiate privacy mode, as her hand brushed the side of the kid's face, testing for a reaction. Like Bobby, the kid was too immersed in his work to notice her attentions to his body whilst jacked in. She then placed her hand on his chest, feeling the fabric of his black t-shirt and then slipped her hand under the shirt, and began to enjoy her investigations a little too much.

"Well it's time for some fun, I never get to have fun," Beka decided, knowing that neither Tyr nor Dylan would venture into these conduits to catch her, should they consider her to be taking her time.

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

Part 5

"Harper," Rommie suddenly appeared beside Harper in the mainframe. "Are you nearly done yet?" she enquired, but looked distracted.

"Nearly," Harper stated focused on his work, and then looked around. "Is it hot in here, or is it me?"

"It's definitely you, Harper," Rommie said with a frown.

"What do you mean?" Harper asked, now looking at Rommie who looked both agitated and embarrassed.

"Well on one hand my advice would be to get out of the system now, but there's a part of me that really doesn't think you should, I'm torn," Andromeda admitted.

"Why, what's going on?" Harper asked a little worried. "Has my leg got gangrene already, what?"

"Beka's found you," Rommie said with fear.

Harper gulped. "That's not good," Harper agreed. "Is she killing me?" he ventured uncertain.

"Not exactly," Rommie was having trouble now, but then took a deep breath and looked firmly at Harper. "Harper, she's making out with you."

"What?" Harper snapped and his projection jumped immediately feeling violated, as he looked at Rommie with shock. "Did you just say?"

"Uh huh," Andromeda grimaced now, not knowing what else to do, knowing this was not good for anybody.

"Aw man, how far has she got? Actually no, don't tell me, but do, man this is twisted," Harper stressed, fearing the answer, showing disgust by this turn of events. It just wasn't on to mess with jacked in people in his opinion, especially if he wasn't there to enjoy it or even agree to it.

"You can't feel any of it?" Rommie checked.

"Now you've told me, I'm freaking trying not to really think about it too much, this is Beka, Rommie, Beka, my Beka, my trusted friend, Beka, my," Harper's face creased up, as he let his emotions fly again. "I can't deal with this, I can't let her do this to me but I can't 'not' do anything, because then it'll go too far and I'll never be able to look at her again," he stressed frantically. "Rommie help me."

"First, Harper, snap out of it, seriously you have to hold it together if you're going to survive this," Rommie instructed firmly. "Secondly, make a decision," she ordered.

"I've got to stop her," Harper decided as calmly as he could, then panicked. "I can't, Rommie, I can't do this," he stressed, and Rommie suspected he was now more than aware of the attentions Beka was now paying to his body.

"Harper, this is not your Beka, and your Beka will thank you one day for what you are about to, and have to do," Rommie said calmly.

"She will," Harper rapidly agreed, psyching himself up. "I've got to do this, I have to face this."

"Good luck, Harper," Rommie called out as he disappeared from the mainframe in a flurry of light and electricity.

In a flash of light Harper mentally jumped, and knew he was back inside his own mind, his own body and before he opened his eyes he could already feel the weight of Beka sitting astride him, and mentally attempted to calm down his more natural instincts of sheer terror, and his even more natural instincts of having a beautiful woman so close to him.

As far as he could determine he was at least still fully clothed, but his shirt was pushed up and he felt Beka's hands exploring his upper body a little too closely for his comfort levels, and then felt her breath as she seemed to lean into his neck, and she began to nuzzle his neck. Inside Harper felt nothing but conflict, she was paying far too close attention to the skin around his port, so somehow she knew his weakness, but at the same time he feared that she knew this, what else did Beka know about him in this way? Mentally he told himself this was not Beka, but he opened his eyes, and saw Beka.

"Beka!" Harper snapped as he focused, and then jumped as her hands now found his port, still connected by the wire to the mainframe. He tried to bring his hands up to stop her, but Beka knees were positioned on his forearms, restricting his movement with her full weight.

"He awakes," Beka smiled now, and resumed her light petting around the base of his neck.

"Get off me!" Harper demanded, squirming under her hold now, but the weight of Beka on his arms caused sharp pain, and made him powerless to dislodge her.

"Oh! You want to make this more interesting?" Beka teased him, her face close to his ear as she continued to play her games.

"Don't do this, Beka," Harper pleaded now, but unable to stop her. "Man, you wouldn't believe the amount of times," Harper paused, clenching his eyes shut. "Shut up, Harper!" he chastised himself at his nervous instincts to talk in the face of fear.

"See, you want this, just like you want this ship," Beka purred and to Harper's horror she easy ripped the neck of his tee shirt right down the middle, exposing his chest to her all too roaming hands.

Harper let out a short sharp a gasp of horror, this was going way too far over the line for his liking and comfort levels and he realised he had never felt so out of control. He knew that he had to get a grip and regain control of the situation, this wasn't Beka and therefore this definitely wasn't one of those wildest, if distant dreams.

Then, when Harper thought it couldn't get any worse he heard the sound of a force lance powering up, and his eyes opened wide. Beka brought the force lance close to his face, and he could almost feel the electric hum it generated. "Maximum security settings to my DNA," Beka half smiled, gesturing to the force lance. "Anyone else comes into contact with this thing, do you know what happens?"

Harper gulped and closed his eyes, feeling the force lance even more now as Beka brought it close to his neck. A huge massive electric charge, if her hand wasn't in contact with it, would be released Harper mentally thought but didn't answer, he was too terrified to speak feeling totally dominated by Beka. Harper could only watch with terror as Beka used a piece of his own ripped shirt to wrap around the handle of the lance, effectively kicking the security options into action as the force lance was lowered towards his chest.

"No, please, Beka, no," Harper begged quietly, his face creasing up.

An eruption of pain engulfed him as the lance made contact with his neck, and Harper tensed up despite the restraint of having Beka sitting across him. Uncontrolled surges washed through him, as his body shook with the discharge of current that Beka was putting through him. Harper made no sound, and the only noise that could be heard over the electrical discharge was Beka laughing.

After what seemed like hours, Beka brought the force lance away and Harper slumped as his body instantly relaxed, jerking slightly with the residue of power still inside him. Breathing heavily, Harper was barely focused as Beka looked down at him. A burn mark was visible just above Harper's collarbone but he didn't feel anything now, other than the sensation of floating, and the noise of his heart desperately trying to beat life through him.

Harper had slowly begun to regain some of his senses and awareness when Beka moved too quickly for him, and to his ultimate horror her lips now met with his, and for a few moments Harper was frozen. He was kissing Beka, or more truthfully, Beka was kissing him and he had very little say in the matter.

Suddenly Harper felt the full impact of the situation, if he had been freaked before now he was in despair at how things were panning out, and he knew that he didn't want this but that he had very little say in the matter. There was nothing he could do to stop it, words would not work, he was considered the enemy, and with his arms still painfully trapped under Beka's weight, and the cable still connected to the mainframe, he knew she was in full control and he was a slave to her whims now. Harper had always know Beka liked to dominate, and only liked men who could control her but he had never considered what would happen if Beka was unable to be controlled, and he feared that he would now find out. Beka was terrifying him to the core, and he felt his world crashing around him as she continued to hold her lips to his.

Beka then suddenly pulled away from the kiss, and when nothing happened for a few moments Harper slowed his panicked breaths and tentatively opened his eyes again, not hiding the terror they contained.

"That was odd," Beka simply said, on seeing Harper staring at her with fear.

"Odd?" Harper questioned from under her, with a shaky voice.

"Odd," Beka repeated with confusion, and Harper wondered if maybe deep down his distress and discomfort had translated into her subconscious, and shown her how wrong this was.

"Please, Beka, stop this I beg you," Harper then pleaded, using the momentary distraction to try and end this impossible situation. "We're friends, but we're not this, this is wrong!" Harper stressed, when Beka gave him no indication of her thoughts.

The force lance came back into Harper's view and with resignation and despair he closed his eyes to the inevitable. Beka was demonstrating her power over him, where both Dylan and Tyr had failed to contain him, she had him right where she wanted and she wasn't going to let him go anytime soon. The force lance came down again, this time close to his port and the energy of the electric shook him with uncontrolled vigour. The pain was unlike anything else, and Harper felt his weakening spirit dying. Still jacked in, and with the current being forced through his body so close to his port, Harper's mind began tripping between realities. The confusion was vivid as Harper found his conscious both in and outside of the matrix. The pain increased as he jumped between, and he felt his conscious being ripped in two, before feeling the eerie sensation of being in two places at once.

Just as quickly as it had started, Harper felt the shocks stop and he was thrown back painfully into the one reality. Slumping into a relaxed state once more, Harper's head rolled but unconsciousness refused to give him a reprieve as he wearily opened his eyes, seeing Beka grinning back at him.

"Now, tell me, what did you do to this ship?" Beka demanded.

"Fixed it," Harper barely mumbled and felt his head snap to the side as Beka slapped him.

"Tell me!" Beka waved the force lance in front of him again.

"Go to hell!" Harper snapped, mustering as much strength and venom as he could.

Beka's hands now clamped down around his neck and pressed down with a firm grip. Instantly Harper gagged, and felt his limited oxygen supply cut off, with little left to fight with and feeling the bruising grip around his neck, Harper offered nothing and prepared for the worst, almost welcoming it.

"Andromeda, inform Dylan that I have the kid immobilised," Beka ordered calmly. "He might still be alive when I bring him out, but no promises."

"Andromeda, ignore that order," a familiar voice then sounded behind Beka.

"What the hell?" Beka turned around, still applying pressure against the weakening human in her hold.

"My name is Rommie, I am the ship's avatar and I am giving you a final warning to get away from Harper," Rommie stated firmly, her avatar fully operational again after the diagnostic, and free from her own core AI program.

"But, we don't have an avatar," Beka argued.

"We do, he built me and it is now my duty to protect my crew," Rommie announced and hurried forward, grabbing hold of Beka and easily pulling her off of Harper, whose head simply rolled to the side not fully aware of his surroundings.

Rommie pushed Beka into the nearby connecting tunnel and then shut the blast door, so she couldn't return. Without another thought Rommie hurried to Harper's side, and already knew he wasn't breathing.

"Harper," Rommie spoke with concern, seeing the bruises rapidly forming around his neck to add to the other injuries that she could see he had picked up. "Speak to me, Harper."

There was no response, there was nothing, and without a second thought Rommie disconnected Harper from the main frame and began to push down against his chest, needing to stimulate his heart again. "Andromeda, reinitiate oxygen for this sector on my authority," Rommie barked and felt the levels immediately rise before she brought her mouth down to Harper's and generated the needed air to breath life back into Harper. Repeating the process a couple more times, Rommie became anxious but refused to accept defeat, she wasn't going to lose Harper like this, not to her own crew. "Come on, Harper!" Rommie demanded with frustration and then was rewarded when Harper's body suddenly jerked back to life, and he instantly began coughing and taking in deep breaths.

"Rommie?" Harper croaked in pain, and blinked his eyes open, still recovering his breath and as the shock hit him he began to cough again. Rommie helped him to sit up as the full impact of what had just happened hit him.

"Are you ok?" Rommie checked with concern.

"I have to go," Harper with a weakened voice. "I have to leave, I can't stay here, not like this," he stressed with panic, his breathing uneven and quick. "I don't want to stay on this freaking ship, don't make me, Rommie, help me," he now pleaded and Rommie could do nothing more than embrace him, and hold him tight knowing he genuinely terrified.

"We will leave," Rommie decided, knowing it was the best plan that she could determine in the current situation but it pained her to know that Harper felt like this about her now, as a warship she needed her crew to feel safe. "Andromeda, patch me through to Trance."

"Trance here," Trance's voice sounded. "Did you find Harper?"

"Just in time," Rommie frowned, and let Harper move away from her a little, as he rolled down to the deck, curling up and holding his body clearly in shock. "I'm going to take Harper away from here; I'll take a slip fighter. I need you to continue working with me, my ship self, to determine and solve this problem, but it's too dangerous for Harper to remain here in the current climate and his current condition."

"Understood, Rommie," Trance's voice sounded sad to her. "Look after him, and I promise we will solve this, you'll be back soon, hopefully a few days no more."

"I hope so too," Rommie confirmed, as she stared at Harper looking so distraught and lost. "Good luck."

Closing communications, Rommie moved to Harper's side and encouraged him to sit up and then to start moving, albeit slowly due to his injured leg. Reluctantly Harper gathered his strength, and numbly followed Rommie without question, but he was more than happy to have her now lead the way, trusting her to help him and feeling some comfort from her presence at her side. Rommie knew he was too quiet, and that he was in shock but he also seemed unsteady and distracted, causing her concern.

With care, Rommie used her abilities to access things before slowly they both appeared from a conduit in the wall on deck twelve, having managed to evade Dylan's orders to close off deck ten. Rommie quickly assisted Harper as he joined her, and she saw the fear and natural shivers, as he glanced up and down the corridor. His silence was still concerning her, and she could see that his focus was still not at its best, but they had some time now and she brought her hands to his face to make him look at her.

"Harper?"

His eyes floated slightly, proving to Rommie that he wasn't focused, and probably was suffering double vision from something Beka had done, either a knock to his head or the suffocation.

"Harper, follow my finger," Rommie instructed, moving her hand to try and assess the extent of his problem, Harper instead lost his balance and stumbled slightly in her hold.

"Harper appears to be suffering a mild concussion, or something is affecting his vision," Andromeda informatively stated from a nearby screen. "He is showing classic signs of being in shock, and he has experienced high blood loss and a severe lack of oxygen. With the added blows to his head and body, I detect at least two broken ribs, a fractured wrist, blast wound to his leg, burns to his chest, plus possible internal bleeding," Andromeda frowned. "He appears traumatised and he needs urgent medical care."

"He won't get that here," Rommie decided. "Not to the right levels, not whilst Dylan, Beka and Tyr believe him to be an enemy and a threat to them."

"Dylan would not mistreat a prisoner," Andromeda objected.

"It's because of our crew that he has these injuries!" Rommie showed her true anger, before taking a moment to calm down, seeing Harper shirk away at her raised voice. "Harper will not be treated as a prisoner!" Rommie returned with passion. "I will take him to the nearest medical facility, and you will not relay that information to the good captain, do you hear me?"

Andromeda seemed a little put out by the outburst, but nodded her head. "Information is confidential, only to you and me," she confirmed.

"Good, I'm glad we're working together at least," Rommie stated, and took more of Harper's weight. "Give us safe passage to the slip fighters," Rommie then ordered and began to move.

"Not so fast, whoever you are," Dylan's voice sounded from behind her, and a force lance was heard to power up and Rommie didn't miss the tensing of Harper's body to the sound, as she supported his weight.

"Dylan, don't make this harder than it has to be," Rommie requested, free of his command after Harper had successfully separated her from the ship AI.

"And who the hell are you, his accomplice? The brains behind this?" Dylan questioned to the stranger's back.

Rommie slowly turned, and the surprise was clear to see on Dylan's face. "Andromeda?" he questioned.

"If you were thinking right, you would know who I am and what I am capable of, and you certainly would not be aiming that force lance at me," Rommie spoke with a threat in her voice.

"I think I would remember if my own ship had an avatar, if you are truly this ship's avatar then I order you to stop!" Dylan yelled.

"Sorry, Dylan, Harper has separated me from the core controls, and it's a good job he did because he might have just saved his own life by doing so," Rommie continued moving with Harper, and heard Dylan fire up his weapon to use and instinctively she brought Harper in front of her and shielded him. Rommie barely flinched, as three bursts of power hit her back, but she protected Harper as her priority, and kept moving away before lifting her hand up to activate a force field across the corridor to slow Dylan down.

"Come on Harper, we have to move faster," Rommie encouraged and without argument, Harper numbly picked up the pace as best he could, even though the android knew he was only vaguely aware of the threat around him.

Rommie heard the force field deactivate behind them and attempted to move faster, but as she did so Harper stumbled with a cry of pain, and for a second she lost some of the hold she had on him.

"Harper, come on, we have to keep moving," Rommie encouraged with urgency, knowing Dylan wasn't far behind them.

"Can't," Harper gasped, and began to cough and the specks of blood splattering across his hand didn't escape Rommie's attention.

"Yes, you can, Harper," Rommie insisted and lifted him back to his feet.

"Ok," Harper stated finding strength in Rommie's determination, pulling himself together, seeming to find his focus once again, as his adrenaline gave him another push.

They started to move, but Rommie was aware that Dylan was close behind them now and on hearing the force lance charging up, she instinctively moved closer to Harper to offer some protection.

"I will not ask you a second time," Dylan warned, standing his ground behind them.

Rommie put her hand on Harper's back, they were very close to the hanger deck now and she knew they had to keep moving. Harper was struggling but he kept going until the panel next to him exploded suddenly as Dylan fired a warning shot, and Harper fell to the ground with surprise and instinct.

Harper twisted round on the ground, sitting up to face Dylan, stood twenty yards away but slowly approaching them now with the force lance still aimed at them. Rommie grabbed hold of Harper's shoulder and pulled him up, but Harper's attention remained locked on Dylan, as the high guard captain slowly approached.

"Dylan," Harper spoke with fear and confusion, and Rommie knew he was trying to comprehend the situation in his distressed state. Harper's mind was playing tricks on him, and it was clear that the engineer had lost a grip on the situation.

Rommie got a better hold on Harper, as she pulled him to his feet. "Come on, Harper, the time for talking has passed," Rommie advised, and even though he was walking backwards in her hold, she continued to guide him towards the hanger deck.

"You can stop this," Dylan now spoke to Harper. "I know you must have somehow created this avatar, we can stop all this now."

"Really?" Harper asked with confusion. "You know who I am?"

"I know who you are," Dylan agreed.

"You remember?" Harper checked, and he felt Rommie stop and stand beside him now, she seemed to be trying to size up the situation as well.

"I know you are something of a genius," Dylan offered. "You are highly skilled, resilient, and I know for a fact that you are not getting this ship!"

Harper took a deep breath, and glanced at Rommie. "We should go," he wavered slightly picking up the gist once more. The adrenaline was running dangerously low, as he realised and remembered that Dylan was not on the same wavelength.

"You are going nowhere!" Dylan insisted and fired a final shot, neither Rommie or Harper were fast enough to react as the shot hit Harper full on in the shoulder, and he yelled out with pure pain hurtling towards the deck with force, and Rommie was only just able to keep him from landing on the deck as she took his full weight and quickly glanced up at Dylan with betrayal clear in her eyes.

"You are really going to regret that," she warned, before gesturing for another force field and quickly entering the hanger deck, leaving Dylan frustrated as he ordered once again for the force field to be dropped, and experiencing a delay in his order being recognised once again.

On reaching the first slip fighter they came to, Rommie was pleased to see her other self had already prepped it for their arrival, and she quickly placed the barely conscious Harper into the back before getting in and securing the cockpit.

"Open the hanger doors," Rommie ordered and saw the expanse of space before her as the doors opened.

"Dylan shot me," Harper suddenly spoke frantically, as he tried to get comfortable in the back, and then stared at his hand covered in his own blood, as he vainly attempted to stop the flow.

"Just relax, Harper, we're just a slip point away from help, I'm taking you to the Yakotari system," Rommie announced as the slip fighter left the hanger. "The drift has a medical facility that is more than adequate," Rommie informed him, but she saw him shaking now and feared she might have to treat him sooner, and delay their arrival by her doing so.

"Sounds great," Harper now murmured tiredly, trying to get comfortable and clearly still struggling to stay focused.

"Don't sleep, Harper, please don't sleep," Rommie ordered but on glancing around she already knew he had finally lost his battle with consciousness, and she wasn't surprised.

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

yeah, oh yeah... rommie, avatar, slip stream... erm, drat hehehe, moving on - good spot, eve, I salute yous!

* * *

Part 6

Trance had been going over and over the footage she had acquired from the security tapes to try and find a reason for the crew's behaviour towards Harper, but so far had found nothing. Rommie had left the ship with Harper nearly an hour before, and Trance was more than concerned for her friend, as she had seen the live feed of Dylan firing on what he saw as intruders, and hitting them both. It made no sense to her why he would think this, and why he would fire upon friends and colleagues as if they were the enemy. Holo-Rommie suddenly appeared before her, and she was smiling.

"I have something," Rommie spoke with joy.

"Tell me," Trance encouraged.

"In the hours prior to Harper becoming forgotten he was conducting a major annual overhaul of my main operating systems," Andromeda informed her. "During that process a number of elements were vented and cleaned, repaired and replaced."

"Ok," Trance stated, hearing nothing new to the information she already knew.

"It seems that during one of the procedures there was a slight malfunction with the venting," Rommie informed the golden alien. "Gasses that are not harmful on their own were mixed that produced a more harmful toxin, none of these gasses should have been come into contact with each other but a technical fault on the venting process meant that a build up occurred," Rommie looked at Trance. "The gases that were supposed to be held and contained separately therefore mixed and my filtering systems failed to safely disperse it," Andromeda revealed. "In my records I have sixteen entries of this gas being safely vented from areas three decks immediately below us, but in one entry a digit has been misplaced that directed a small amount of this gas into Command," she finished.

"Show me the details of this gas," Trance demanded, knowing this was relevant. The console in front of Trance flashed up the details as requested, and Trance began to smile. "This makes sense," Trance beamed. "The gas has elements that could cause delusions to those who inhale it for extended periods of time, and possibly heightens tendency for violence and irrational thought."

"It doesn't explain why three members of my crew have all forgotten Harper," Rommie frowned. "And why they have tried to harm him first, ask questions later."

"It does, Andromeda, it explains everything!" Trance explained. "Beka, Dylan and Tyr were on command together for a six hour shift just before Harper was declared a threat, and not a member of this crew. That was the extended period of time that they were exposed to this gas, the times match," she exclaimed. "Now, watch this and it will finally make sense, it's been confusing me but now I know about the gas well this exchange more than makes perfect sense now."

Andromeda's hologram turned to watch the screen, as Trance played back the security logs from earlier. The image flashed up and they saw Dylan, Tyr and Beka on command, casually chatting.

--

"I received another complaint from that drift we visited a few weeks back, seems Harper upset another woman with his chat up techniques," Dylan was seen to remark with a wry grin.

"That little pest," Beka shot back with a smirk. "You know sometimes I'm in half a mind to give him a good dose of his own medicine, hunt him down and see how he likes the coming on too strong treatment, see how he acts then," Beka smiled with an evil glint in her eye.

"I can only imagine the little man would be reduced to tears having a lustful Beka Valentine chasing him through the conduits," Tyr remarked dryly.

"Too right," Beka grinned. "So where is the little love pest anyway?" Beka asked, stood at her usual console. "I haven't seen him all day."

"Doing his annual spring clean of the main systems," Dylan answered.

"So he's disappeared for most of the day then?" Beka figured and there was silence for a moment. "Can you imagine what this ship would be like if Harper wasn't on board, say if he'd never existed?" she mused by way of conversation.

--

Trance paused the playback and looked at Rommie. "I thought at first that maybe this was the start of a practical joke, until Tyr shot Harper," she then frowned and resumed playback.

--

"This ship would be a sitting duck without the little professor to patch things up," Tyr remarked. "It would also be a quieter place," he then added.

"This ship needs an engineer, without Harper I can't begin to imagine what things would be like," Dylan joined in.

"We'd be stopping at every drift to get things fixed," Beka grinned at the prospect.

"That problem we had yesterday with the propulsion engines," Dylan began and then checked something on his console, finding an answer. "We'd have been forced to stop at that drift we all raised our eyebrows at yesterday," he smiled.

"Just like the old days on the Maru before Harper turned up," Beka shook her head. "Actually on the Maru we didn't have a proper engineer full time before him, we just all mucked in and made do, and we did have to stop at drifts to get the big jobs done."

"I would certainly not enjoy my time on this ship if it did not have an engineer, and I would be constantly reminding you of that fact," Tyr stated towards Dylan.

"Well, an engineer is useful to have, every ship needs one, and the right one, you can't just have any one," Dylan offered.

There was silence now, as the crew appeared to be contemplating life without an engineer.

--

"Now," Trance enthused. "The gas has been in command now for nearly five minutes, and they are all inhaling it, mixed with their conversation it's created a group delusion," she stated as fact. "They unknowingly have now talked themselves into believing they don't have an engineer, and during this pause they must have forgotten about Harper, he has simply disappeared from their memories as Beka suggested, all by the power of suggestion."

"This certainly seems to be the case," Rommie agreed with her arms folded. "So now we need to fix this."

"Well, if we can get the three of them to come to command, we could vent something that could counteract the gas's effects," Trance considered. "Then we just have to break the delusion."

"And how would we do that?" Rommie enquired, having already figured out how to counteract the gas's effects.

"It was the power of suggestion that created it," Trance shrugged. "We just have to encourage them to snap out of it," Trance smiled knowingly.

* * *

Rommie looked around the establishment, knowing that her facilities on board were much better but conceding that Harper's safety was a little more guaranteed here, but not by much. They had arrived just an hour ago, and already the staff had treated Harper before simply leaving him to recover by his own means. With disgust Rommie noted the questionable cleanliness of the area where Harper now slept, hoping to have Harper out of there before he caught something nasty just by staying there.

Her confidence in Harper's treatment was in doubt as well, but she was satisfied that he was at least comfortable now, all patched up and at least out of danger. It had been so close before, and Rommie nearly shuddered as she remembered the battle to get the human breathing again. The doctors had confirmed that Harper would make a full recovery, but also suggested that he may need to be observed for a few days to be completely sure, and that was what concerned Rommie more than anything else. The vacant look Harper had whilst they were making their way to the slip fighter seemed unnatural, and she couldn't forget how quiet he had been, especially considering what he had been subjected to. Rommie knew Beka had pushed Harper too far, but she just didn't know exactly what the feisty female had done. On hearing Harper start to stir, Rommie sat up and she put a comforting hand on his arm.

"Harper," Rommie said softly.

"Rommie," Harper grimaced as he rolled onto his back, and then opened his eyes. "Where are we?" he then asked, not recognising the room.

"We're at a medical facility in the Yakotari system," Rommie informed him.

"Ow," Harper complained, and felt that his shoulder was numb from the treatment. Rommie was waiting patiently and didn't have to wait long for the memories to return. "I was shot," Harper remembered now, and his expression soon showed that he was remembering all the details leading up to the events that had brought him there, as his visibly tensed before her.

"Harper, take as long as you need," Rommie encouraged him.

Harper remained silent for a moment before looking at Rommie with fondness, and he smiled. "Thanks for being there," he simply offered.

Rommie simply smiled in returned, and she squeezed his hand. "I have secured us a place to stay on this drift, once you are well enough to leave."

Harper nodded his head in acknowledgement. "What was the damage?" he then asked but sounded almost afraid to know the full extent.

"Concussion, blood loss, burns, some cracked and fractured bones," Rommie tried to make light of his injuries; she was more concerned by the effects this would have on him mentally. "Harper, what happened on the Andromeda," Rommie began with care. "Try not to think too much about it, or read into it, I'm not sure why they did what they did yet, but they were not acting themselves."

"I know," Harper agreed quietly looking upwards. "Can we leave this place yet?"

"You should stay, Harper, you need to rest and recover," Rommie stated.

"I don't like it here," Harper complained. "It smells funny," he added.

Rommie looked around and considered Harper's request, knowing she was competent with looking after his injuries now, but she wasn't keen on moving him too soon. "Maybe after you have rested for longer," she compromised. Harper rolled onto his side without responding, and attempted to get comfortable. He looked tired and drawn, and Rommie decided to leave him to rest. "I'm going to make some enquiries, I'll be back soon," she smiled and left him to it when she saw his eyes close, and his body relax into sleep again.

* * *

Trance glanced over to the screen, and she saw a brief nod from Andromeda. Slowly she moved forward, observing Dylan, Beka and Tyr in turn, all of whom had returned to command once it had been established that the slip fighter had left the system and disappeared. They all worked in silence now, trying to trace the path the fighter took, but they didn't seem to be getting very far with it.

"He was good," Beka noted with anger. "There's nothing, it's been nearly four hours and nothing."

"He had help, I told you I saw her, an android of some sort in Andromeda's image," Dylan recalled. "If she had the capability of Andromeda, then it's no surprise we can not trace him."

"Hey, all believing about that Andromeda android, saw her first hand too," Beka remembered being trapped inside the conduits for an hour, courtesy of said android.

"Maybe that was his goal all along," Tyr suggested. "Maybe he had built this 'thing' and now he's successfully downloaded a copy of our ship's core processor into it," he shrugged.

Beka turned around. "He was jacked in when I found him," she exclaimed. "That's it, that's what he wanted!"

"And you let him get away," Dylan accused towards Beka. "If he was jacked it, then how did he escape, Beka?" he questioned. "He must have been rendered unconscious whilst hooked up."

"I told you, his fancy woman android blindsided me, no one told me he had help," she stressed in reply, but she received unconvinced looks from Tyr and Dylan.

"Excuse me," Trance spoke up at the front of command, drawing all of their attention.

"Trance, if this is going to be another lecture about this Harper kid being a member of this crew I can assure you we have more than enough evidence to prove otherwise now," Dylan confidently confirmed.

Andromeda's hologram appeared next to Trance. "The only evidence I have is that you successfully run our engineer and my avatar from their home, this ship," she scolded. "And you nearly killed him in the process!"

"We will be extremely lucky if he decides to return," Trance agreed sadly. "Having been shot twice, and worse," she looked at Beka questionably.

"I can not believe you two," Dylan exclaimed. "Give it up already, this kid was a pest, and one that we successfully got shot of."

"Shot being the word," Andromeda confirmed.

"I'm going to count down from ten," Trance then announced, and saw the confusion to her words. "You will remember everything, and by the sound of a clap you will realise the truth," she stated.

"Excuse me?" Dylan checked, as Trance began to count down, and he looked around to see equally bemused looks from Tyr and Beka.

"Five, four, three, two, one and wake up," Trance stated, and clapped her hands once, the power of suggestion working to their advantage this time.

Andromeda and Trance looked on expectantly in the face of silence, as Tyr, Beka and Dylan just stared back at the two of them. For a few moments there was an uneasy silence, until Dylan clutched the console in front of him for support, and within seconds Beka did likewise whilst Tyr simply crossed his arms.

"Who is the ship's engineer?" Trance finally asked.

Dylan seemed confused, and he looked at her with eyes wide. "Seamus Harper," he answered in almost a whisper, and confirmed that Trance's act had worked, and that she had broken the delusion as suspected, by old fashion means.

"What have we done?" Beka now asked with despair. "I need to see him, I have to see Seamus," she stressed, moving now but Trance was quick to intercept, and stopped her.

"No, Beka," she simply ordered, and Beka tried to object. "He need's time, he's no longer on board, so you have to wait."

"No, Trance, I have to explain, I have to tell him I didn't mean it," Beka stressed.

"Give him time," Trance responded calmly. "You all have to work this out, accept responsibility and just wait, Harper is not coming back until Rommie feels he's ready to, if in fact he wants to," she confirmed.

"What happened?" Tyr asked, his tone lacking the usual confidence.

"Gas leak, and unfortunate conversation topic," Trance shrugged. "This was no one's fault, it was an accident."

"I shot Harper!" Dylan raised his voice in anger at his own actions.

"As did I," Tyr offered, showing the closest expression to shock that anyone had seen on him.

Beka moved numbly back to her console. "I nearly broke the poor guy's neck, nearly fried him and worse," she added with guilt. "Crap, this is not good," Beka exclaimed hysterically. "I was teasing him, I was actually making out with him, with Harper!" she yelled now, and Trance moved to her side. "He tried to stop me, he tried to make me realise what I was doing but I just made things worse," she panicked now. "He'll never trust me again," she looked away, trying to hide her fears.

"Everybody did something they regret," Trance soothed.

"We didn't listen," Dylan frowned. "We were so convinced that he was playing games, lying to us, that we didn't listen."

"We did our best," Andromeda simply said.

"Andromeda, Trance, I'm sorry," Dylan immediately offered. "We shouldn't have ignored your warnings."

"We need to move forward," Trance spoke with authority. "I spoke to Rommie, she says Harper is recovering from his injuries, with no immediate complications, and he'll make a full recovery from his physical injuries," she confirmed firmly.

"That's something at least," Tyr attempted to be optimistic.

"Right now, it's too early to say if or when he'll come back," Trance then added. "You all shook him up badly, some more than others, and he is currently under observation, there is still some concern about how things affected him mentally but I'm confident he can bounce back from this."

"What if he doesn't come back, what if we've actually pushed too far?" Beka said with genuine concern, and drew the attentions of the others. "I'm just being realistic," she shrugged sadly. "Harper is very big on that trust thing, on being comfortable and feeling comfortable and we've all compromised that by our actions today," she stressed, looking at Dylan and Tyr in turn. "So just don't be surprised if he decides to move on."

"Well hopefully having Rommie with him will help him to at least consider coming back," Dylan simply said, accepting his part in the situation.

"I'm glad he has someone," Trance agreed, and she hated the atmosphere on command in that moment, as the three crew mates tried to come to terms with their own actions against a friend.

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

Part 7

The bar was easy to hide in, and sat at the far table Harper felt he was invisible to the other patrons as he took another gulp from the bottle, he then looked at Rommie. The android, his friend, his creation had been his constant companion since he had left the dive of a medical facility. The drift was nothing special, full of low life scum and dodgy deals, but Harper strangely felt safe being there, more so than anyplace else. He had convinced Rommie to let him have one beer, despite his medication and it was like finally something was making sense again, as he let the liquid flow down his still sore throat.

"Did it really all happen?" Harper then asked, in a reflective tone.

"You feel ready to talk?" Rommie checked, and Harper slowly nodded his head to signal that he was. It had been nearly two days since the harrowing events on the Andromeda and he knew that Rommie had been growing concerned by his continued silence on the subject, after leaving the medical facility. It was only now that he felt ready to talk about it, even though so little of it still made any sense.

"I guess it was a lesson in knowing what my friends really think of me, you know, if they didn't know me," Harper offered, his voice shaking and his eyes focused on the bottle. "They all wanted to kill me, and they didn't trust me, I was just a pest in their eyes, a worthless kludge with no value of note," he stated and took a gulp from his beer. "Some stupid kludge mudfoot that is nothing but annoying," he bitterly continued.

"Harper, what you heard and saw wasn't your friend's thoughts about you," Rommie insisted. "They were not thinking straight."

"I know," Harper sighed, and coughed for a moment, suffering the after effects of damage to his throat. "These bruises and scars will fade, the memories will be just that," he reeled off without emotion. "Good old Harper will bounce back as if nothing happened."

"That's not what I'm saying, Harper," Rommie insisted.

"Right now, the thought of going back," Harper was already shaking his head. "I just can't do it," he admitted with some difficulty, and began fiddling with the cast support that was aiding his fractured wrist. That very action reminded him of how he had fractured his wrist, and he remembered Beka's weight holding him down, securing his arms, and then sending bolts of electricity through him so his body violently bucked and twisted, and he couldn't do a thing to stop it. Harper shivered, as the memories taunted him, and he had to close his eyes to try and forget, to attempt to pretend it never happened, to forget seeing Beka's face as she laughed at his vulnerable position.

"You don't have to, not yet," Rommie assured him, breaking through his tortured thoughts. "Your work on the main systems before all this happened, let's just say they can cope without you for as long as you need, so take your time."

Harper took another swig from the bottle, and then smirked. "You know, that hadn't even occurred to me," he admitted with a touch of shame, knowing his thoughts were still consumed by the actions of Beka, Tyr and Dylan.

"I'm a warship, I can't help thinking like that," Rommie grinned, and then saw Harper smile in return, a genuine smile.

"You'll need to return soon though," Harper stated.

"I have enough battery power to last me a few more days, more if I can drain the slip fighter and then persuade the Maru to come and pick me up," Rommie responded, having already thought it through.

"You know what really bothers me?" Harper then announced, clearly wanting to talk now and Rommie was more than willing to listen.

"Tell me," Rommie requested.

"The apologies," Harper admitted with a sigh. "I mean assuming they weren't themselves and stuff," he smirked at the possibility. "But just the ordeal of having to hear them apologise, because I know they will," he stressed before frowning. "Well maybe not Tyr, but the other two," Harper looked past Rommie now, distantly. "I'll no doubt be forced to hear about their feelings, and they'll push to hear my own, when to be honest I'd just rather forget about it and move on."

"Is that what's stopping you returning?" Rommie questioned.

Harper sat back. "I don't know," he shrugged, with more honesty now. "Rom doll, I don't want to leave the Andromeda, you're the best thing that's ever happened to me," he smiled fondly, and Rommie knew he was speaking from the heart. "But I don't want to remember either, you know? The thought of going back, it's just too much to think about, it's still too fresh in my mind and I'm still covered in reminders," he gestured to the many marks and bandages that covered him, some hidden, some on show, but he still looked very much like a man who had just been in the wars despite medical treatment.

"I think I understand," Rommie considered.

Harper leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table and lowered his voice. "But hey, don't worry, Rommie," Harper assured her looking as serious as she had ever seen him look, as he took her hand and covered it with his own beaten hand on the table top. "I experienced enough crap on Earth, stuff that far outweighs what happen on the Andromeda, and I've had to deal with stuff that made what happened the other day," Harper paused and tried to find the words to explain. "Not entirely acceptable, but it wasn't exactly new to me either," he offered sincerely, attempting to be clear but knowing he was failing.

"Ok, you're losing me again," Rommie admitted.

Harper smirked, but soon his smile was replaced with a frown. "I lived my life before I left Earth not trusting anyone, no one, not even family," he shrugged. "If I'm honest, at times especially not those closest to me," he explained and sighed, clearly finding it hard to admit to. "And I'd do things that if it meant I would eat that day whilst my best friend didn't, then so be it, I did what I had to do to survive. That was life and I'd even fight my own family for some crappy piece of bread or worst, so," Harper let his head drop a little, lost in his memories for a moment, as his hands now rubbed his face.

"You're use to people close to you turning on you, is that what you mean?" Rommie asked, trying to understand the words her engineer was speaking.

Harper could only shrug and briefly nod his head. "So, what happened, it just took me back and that was all, I freaked yes, but I feel nothing, not really," he tried to explain. "It wasn't something that really surprised me all that much," he admitted, but avoided Rommie's questioning stare now. "We never made a big deal of stuff like this, before on Earth, it was just accepted, shit happens and that's all I want now. No inquisitions, no apologies, just for us all to move on and forget about it, continue the good fight and so on and so forth."

"But you did trust your crew mates," Rommie considered. "You had learned to trust them, to feel safe around them and depend on them not to betray you."

"Maybe," Harper reluctantly agreed. "But maybe this was the wake up call I needed, just to show that you can take the boy out of Boston, but you can't take the Boston out the boy," he picked up his bottle and finished it's contents in one swift move.

"Harper," Rommie took his hand now. "I don't want you feeling that you can't trust anybody on the Andromeda."

"Well that is my problem right now, no one elses," Harper offered and saw Rommie looking back at him with concern. "All I'm saying is that it's nothing new to me, so no big deal," he shrugged. "Lived like that before, so I can do it again," he stated and gripped his empty beer bottle now, staring intently at the label and avoiding looking at Rommie for her reaction.

"No, Harper, that is not the solution here," Rommie stated firmly.

"Isn't it?" Harper questioned. "They need me, I need them, simple," Harper added, and showed a growing agitation that Rommie couldn't explain, he seemed to be trying to control his emotions.

"Harper, you have to remember that what happened was not real, it was not done because of you, but because of the influence of that gas, it was an accident but the consequences were unforgivable," Rommie insisted. "You can't pretend those things didn't happen and expect everything to return to normal."

"Not real?" Harper questioned abruptly once Rommie had finished and in a sudden shift in mood, getting to his feet. "I'll tell you what's freaking real, Rom doll, I have a dead arm and a dead leg, and add to that a whole host of weirdness for my already freaky imagination, that was all very real to me!" he snapped and pushed his way back through the crowd towards the exit.

"Harper!" Rommie got to her feet and pursued her friend. Pushing her way through the crowd, she reached the door and hurried through into the drifts night life outside. Scanning the crowds it took her a moment to spot Harper, but soon did as she saw him leaning back against a wall opposite her position.

Slowly she approached, trying to read the situation, and sensing her friend was troubled now. Harper looked upwards, not acknowledging her until she was stood beside him.

"Take me back," Harper simply requested.

"Harper, are you sure?" Rommie checked, seeing Harper was not looking at her and didn't sound convinced about his decision.

"I keep going over and over what happened, Rommie, and it won't leave my thoughts," Harper explained frantically. "I just need to get this over with, I need to just move on so things can go back to normal and I can stop seeing this shit in my head."

Rommie considered his words and finally nodded her head. "Ok, we can leave now, or in the morning."

Harper glanced up at the bar he had just left. "There's beer here," he figured.

"The morning it is then," Rommie smiled knowingly.

* * *

The command deck was silent, and it had been quiet like this for a couple of days since the incidents of the group delusion. The motivation that usually pushed them all was temporarily absent, and Dylan found it hard to give orders as no one wanted to work, they all wanted to consider their actions, and be alone with their thoughts as they tried to figure out what had happened onboard. They had been attacked, and as a group nearly destroyed and the most terrifying thing had been that they themselves had been their own worst enemy.

It was late, and Dylan continued to idly check the systems again finding that everything was working perfectly, another reminder of the guilt he felt in relation to Harper, but he couldn't sleep or find anything else to do. As captain he had failed, and felt that failure from the ship and from Trance who seemed to taunt him whenever they could about Harper's absence. They were not being malicious, simply passing on information but Dylan was still struggling to accept what he had done, and their words hurt, as they served to constantly remind him of their engineer's forced absence.

Beka wandered onto Command and without a word stood next to Dylan's console. She appeared troubled, and in need of sleep but Dylan knew not to order her to rest, he knew how she was feeling.

"Do you think he'll come back?" Beka quietly asked.

"Yes," Dylan responded with little emotion, knowing that she was talking of Harper.

"The longer he's gone, the more concerned I get," Beka admitted. "I want to just jump in the Maru and find him, find Rommie, drag them both back here so I can at least have a chance to explain, to just sort this mess out."

Dylan felt Beka's frustration, it matched his own. "We have to give him time."

"I know," Beka sighed. "Doesn't make it any easier, I can't stop replaying what I did, and over and over I see his terrified face, the look of betrayal in his eyes and I just want the chance to say I'm sorry, to attempt to rebuild what we had."

"We all do, in our own ways. You, me and Tyr really need to give Harper some kind of explanation even if it's not accepted, we need that chance," Dylan sighed heavily.

"Using that gas leak seems such a poor excuse, what we did went way beyond that," Beka frowned.

"I know, we all do," Dylan served to confirm Beka's fears, and comfort her that she was not alone. "Tyr refuses to acknowledge any hails, and remains in his room trying to deal with this, we're all suffering."

"Not as much as Harper," Beka was quick to remind him.

"Agreed," Dylan nodded his head. "But we're all suffering in our own ways, and we all need to pull through this together, it's the only way we can hope to build from this and not let it become our downfall."

Beka looked absently across to the view screens that showed an expanse of space beyond. "It took me a year, maybe two to gain Harper's trust totally and I did that by understanding his fears and needs but in ten minutes of mindless madness I could have destroyed the best friendship I've ever had."

"Harper is strong and he's not stupid, we have to believe he is capable of coming through this, and accepting what happened to be nothing more than a terrible unfortunate accident," Dylan stated.

"I believe he can do anything, he's seen enough crap in his time to be able to simply brush this off if he really wants to, trust me, Dylan, but I'm not sure I could ever forgive myself for what I did," Beka admitted. "And that might prevent us ever going back to how we were," she added solemnly.

"We have to try, Beka, for Harper," Dylan insisted and then his attention was caught by his console as it suddenly started beeping, and Dylan immediately responded, and looked up at Beka. "It's a message from Rommie," he stated and read the simple text transmission, and he smiled as he looked back to Beka. "Harper's coming home tomorrow."

"He is?" Beka checked with surprise, and she suddenly brightened.

"Says right here, he's ready to return," Dylan smiled.

Beka didn't hide her joy now and relief as she looked around command. "Thank the divine, I was seriously worried there, I really thought we might never get that chance to explain, that we had lost him," she flustered and Dylan moved from the console and embraced his first officer, and she readily accepted his hold, allowing her emotions to show.

"You should rest now, tomorrow could be a long day," he finally spoke.

Beka pulled away, with new fears now as she looked upwards. "Now, I just have to figure out what I can say to make things right again," she sighed.

"Harper knows that wasn't us," Dylan spoke with care. "And he's had Rommie with him to help him, and she's obviously done a good job."

"I still feel like I owe him so much," Beka frowned.

"We'll make it up to him," Dylan assured her. "I promise."

"I'll go get some rest," Beka gestured and walked away from Dylan, leaving him alone on command to prepare his own words to say to the engineer on his return.

* * *

Rommie looked across to Harper, who appeared lost in his thoughts as he watched the transports to and from the drift's port. Their hotel overlooked the port, and for the past hour they had been sitting in the viewing lounge observing the traffic. She couldn't understand why Harper wanted to remain in this spot, watching the ships but he seemed contented enough in his silence, though she suspected that his thoughts were more than occupying his troubled mind. Every so often Harper would reference the small pad he had in his hand, that was flashing up images from the port, as he idly observed which ships and shipments were coming in and out of port. Once a scavenger, always a scavenger, Rommie concluded.

"We used to do this a lot," Harper then spoke, as if guessing Rommie's confusion with his fascination in the port activities. "Helped us keep ahead of the game," he gestured to the pad in front of him.

"You're illegally scanning all the ships coming in and out of this drift," Rommie reminded him.

"They'll never find out, I've never been caught before and no harm done, not like I need to know these things now," Harper offered, his eyes fixed on the screen as the images changed.

"We have a long day tomorrow, you should get some rest," Rommie finally suggested and Harper seemed to be snapped out of his thoughts by her voice as he blinked his eyes, and put the pad away.

"Sure," Harper agreed without objection, and made to move, soon joining Rommie as they made the short walk back to their room.

"Are you ok?" Rommie asked.

"Tired," he simply answered.

"Worried about tomorrow?" she ventured.

"Kinda," Harper shrugged and then sighed. "I'm really not looking forward to listening to three times the apologies, I mean I've never heard an uber apologise, it sounds scary," he admitted with a brief smirk, hiding his true fear.

"I could ask them to back off, at least let you get settled in before they all come grovelling for your forgiveness?" Rommie suggested with a smile.

Harper appeared to brighten at that suggestion, but before he could respond he suddenly tensed up and appeared to hold his breath.

"Harper?" Rommie quickly spoke with concern, but could do nothing when without warning Harper collapsed to the floor and passed out. "Harper!" Rommie cried out, and looked up and down the corridor but they were all alone.

Harper was unresponsive, as Rommie checked his vitals finding them strong and stable. There was no explanation for his black out, and she could do nothing but hope her friend would regain consciousness soon, still unable to find a reason why he had passed out and unusually she was lost regarding what she should do.

"Harper?" She then spoke on seeing his body jerk, and seconds later Harper's eyes opened, and he immediately pushed himself up to a sitting position.

"What happened?" Harper asked with confusion.

"You passed out, no warning, and no reason I can find," Rommie answered.

Harper took some deep breaths, and then with Rommie's help he got to his feet and accessed his reactions. "That was freaky," he then admitted.

"Do you wish to go to the medical center?"

"You're asking me? You know my answer," Harper replied, shaking his head to suggest 'no'.

Rommie checked him again. "You seem ok, I see no reason to insist you go," she admitted.

"I'm fine, I guess I'm over tired, maybe I shouldn't have had that drink like you said, or maybe the thought of tomorrow is stressing me out more than I think," Harper hurriedly suggested and began to walk.

"Once we're back on the Andromeda we can have Trance do some tests," Rommie offered and Harper simply agreed with a quick nod of the head, as they reached the door to their suite.

Once they had stepped inside, Harper hesitated as he looked back at Rommie with a genuine concern in his expression. "Just maybe, if it's ok, just keep an eye on me tonight?" Harper then suggested awkwardly, unable to hide the fact his feinting spell had shook him up.

"You don't even have to ask, go get some rest, and I'll keep an eye on you I promise," Rommie confirmed and after a brief if awkward hug, Harper retired to bed leaving Rommie to show surprise that for the another night, Harper had failed to try a line on her, considering they were sharing a hotel room.

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

Part 8

Beka paced command and then stopped to check her console, with Dylan looking on tiredly after another sleepless night.

"Beka, they'll be here shortly. I received word from Rommie that they were just waiting for clearance from the port," Dylan stated, growing weary of Beka's impatience.

"I just want him safely back on board," Beka fussed.

"Just remember what Rommie has requested," Dylan reminded her. "We do not go and meet Harper, we wait for him to find us when he's ready and that could be hours or even days," Dylan stressed.

"That's a crappy plan, you know that right?" Beka partially snapped.

"It's Harper's wishes, its part of the reason why he's willing to return, and in some ways it makes sense," Dylan stated. "He needs to feel comfortable on board again and that won't happen if we immediately crowd him, he deserves all the time he needs so he can feel safe again," Dylan frowned and saw Beka wasn't happy. "His first stop on returning is a check up on med deck, and then it's up to him where he goes next."

"Is he ok?" Beka thought to ask.

"So Rommie says, but she did mention he still isn't a hundred percent, so we give him space," Dylan returned.

"I guess being shot in the leg and shoulder can do that to a man," Beka spoke without thought, before pausing and turning to Dylan seeing the hurt and anger in his expression. "I'm sorry, it's nerves, Dylan, I didn't mean it like that," she said a little softer. "Truth be known, I'm willing to bet I'm the last person he'll want to see, in all senses of the word."

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Dylan advised calmly, and then checked his console. "The slip fighter is free of the drift and has set a course back to Andromeda."

"Finally," Beka sighed with relief.

"I'll let Tyr know, and update him on Harper's request," Dylan announced. "You have command," he gestured as he left the deck.

Beka took up station and changed the view to show the slipfighter's course back to the Andromeda. Deep down she was afraid, she knew all about Harper's insecurities and she couldn't help but know that she had broken a number of them by her actions under the influence. If she was honest with herself, Beka knew that she had secretly hoped Harper wouldn't return, and save her the anguish of having to win his trust all over again when it had been a miracle in the first place that she had it at all.

* * *

Rommie concentrated on the flight path that the computer had laid in, before she turned her attention to Harper. He was sat quietly behind her, but she could hear his nervous movements, and almost feel his uncertainty.

"It's not too late to turn back," Rommie simply said.

"No," Harper returned to her surprise, his voice assertive and in control. "I need to do this, to get it over with."

"I have instructed that no one meet us on our return, we'll head straight for med deck and then I would suggest that you decide what you want to do next," Rommie informed him.

"I want you to stay with me, till I say otherwise," Harper simply said.

"That I can do," Rommie returned fondly.

She heard a sigh, before Harper spoke again. "I don't want a big deal made of this, all I really need to do is walk around the ship and get my head together," Harper stated, clearly agitated. "Then I'll speak to the others, get it all over with."

"That sounds like a good plan," Rommie agreed. "Just remember to rest, you are still carrying injuries that need time to heal."

"I know, but if you're by my side you won't let me forget, right?" Harper smirked.

"We should be docked in a few minutes," Rommie then confirmed, and felt Harper lean forward.

"Actually, can you stop for a moment, there is something I want to tell you," Harper then stated and Rommie immediately complied.

"You're not having second thoughts?" Rommie asked.

"No," Harper was quick to answer. "I just want you to know that you've been great, and you make me even prouder."

"You made me stop so you can gush to me about your brilliance in making me?" Rommie smirked.

"Why did I give you a sarcastic program?" Harper frowned, and then smiled. "That's not all that what I wanted to say, it's about Beka."

"And what she did to you?" Rommie guessed.

"She killed me, Rommie, and you had to revive me," Harper spoke with seriousness.

"You remember that?" Rommie hadn't been sure, this was the first time he had even mentioned that to her.

"I remember everything that happened, everything Beka did is as clear as day," Harper revealed, and he looked troubled. "I know it wasn't Beka, Beka, my Beka," Harper was quick to point out, his arms now resting on the back of Rommie's seat, and he let his forehead rest on them for a moment. "Dylan and Tyr, they were being Dylan and Tyr, protecting their own interests against a threat, I get that and whatever they have to say I'll understand but I don't get what Beka did to me, I just need to know why."

"I have no answer for you," Rommie admitted, she had seen all of what Beka had submitted Harper to as she raced to his aid, and it confused her too.

"I don't hate her, and I really want to see her and just hug her, tell her things are ok but," Harper paused, confusion etched on his face.

"But they are not ok?"

Harper stared at Rommie and nodded his head. "She killed me," he simply said.

"You're alive," Rommie thought to remind him.

"Only because of you," Harper pointed out. "I mean what do I say? 'Oh hi Beka, yes you killed me but I still love you,'" he mocked, and then rubbed his face.

"Let Beka talk, you listen and maybe she'll say something that will make what happened make more sense," Rommie suggested.

"Dylan's instincts are to protect his ship and he shot me when he saw me as a threat, Tyr's instincts are for self preservation and he saw me as a threat to that, by not joining him, and by being a threat to the ship, he shot me," Harper carefully explained. "But Beka's instincts were to mock me, to hurt me, to make out with me and then kill me," he stressed, an inner battle with his emotions starting. "What the freaking hell does that mean?"

"I'm not sure," Rommie admitted, with some consideration but she could sense that it troubled Harper.

"Beka was not concerned about the threat I posed to the ship, all she wanted to do was humiliate me and then kill me, she had her chance and her instincts gave her the opportunity," Harper sat back, and took a deep breath, as he crossed his arms.

"Beka loves you Harper, and she doesn't wish you harm, just as Dylan and Tyr didn't but they still hurt you too," Rommie tried to keep perspective. "I think you're thinking too much into this."

"Maybe," Harper considered. "But I can't forget what she did, Dylan and Tyr, I'll be able to forget what they did in an instant because I know they did what they felt was right at the time, a brush of my hand and we'll be cool," Harper stated dismissively. "But Beka, I need to know, I can't let it go so easily."

"Then I suggest we continue with boarding, your answers can only be found on there," Rommie encouraged gesturing to her ship self, and Harper nodded his head, signalling for Rommie to continue to dock.

* * *

Beka watched the view screen intently, stood on command she had her arms crossed and her attention on nothing else. Dylan moved beside her, with Tyr and they stood in silence as they watched the live feed from the docking bay, as Rommie, then Harper left the slip fighter and completed their return to the Andromeda.

"He doesn't look well," Beka remarked quietly.

Tyr glanced at her, but said nothing. Dylan frowned and watched as they both entered the corridor and began walking in silence. "It's unusual that Harper isn't talking, not even absently," Dylan remarked.

"Harper not talking is a bad sign," Beka stated, looking anxious. "I want to know why they stopped just short of docking, do you think Harper was having second thoughts, he looks nervous, does he look nervous to you?" Beka quickly asked between Tyr and Dylan. "Do you think he doesn't want to be here?"

"He's here, and now things can return to some form of normality without the dramatics," Tyr stated.

"Dramatics?" Beka questioned. "You think Harper's absence was for dramatics?" she further asked, showing her shock. "He left because you both shot him!" she snapped.

"Beka, I think Tyr is just referring to the strange atmosphere that's been present here in the past few days, the unease," Dylan attempted to be diplomatic.

"I'm also confident that the boy's leaving wasn't just down to the injuries he sustained from the good captain or myself," Tyr crossed his arms and glared at Beka.

Beka looked away, and then focused on the screen seeing that both Rommie and Harper were still walking. "I know I played my part too, all I'm saying is Harper had every reason, and right to leave and it wasn't just to be dramatic," Beka stated firmly.

"Maybe we all need to figure out our issues between ourselves before we can hope to offer Harper any kind of explanation," Dylan suggested.

"I have no issues and I do not owe the boy any form of explanation," Tyr stated. "I am sure he has been briefed and understands the accidental nature of what happened, and we were not acting ourselves, what more is there to say?"

"How about 'sorry Harper for shooting you in the leg?'" Beka snapped.

"I shot a suspected intruder in the leg, I did not have the awareness necessary at the time to realise I was shooting a fellow crew member, that is due to the gas and is not my fault, therefore I have no apology to make," Tyr remained defiant.

"I don't believe it, Dylan, you can't just let him say these things," Beka stressed. "We are all accountable for what happened!"

"When I shot Harper, I was doing it to protect this ship and it's crew, my motives would be the same right now if I was in the same position, are you asking me to apologise for doing the right thing by this ship?" Tyr questioned and Beka just stared at him.

"Tyr, I think Harper deserves something, even if it's a token apology," Dylan suggested.

"I will not be reduced to saying words that I do not mean, for an action I knew full well I was taking and judged at the time to be right, I will not apologise for protecting this crew and the ship," Tyr argued.

"Your judgement was wrong Tyr, and you shot Harper who I might add was defenceless and fully aware of what you were doing!" Beka stressed. "For putting him through that you should apologise!"

"Ok, guys, lets calm down," Dylan interjected. "We have to deal with this, and in our own way," he began. "What happened, happened and we must keep in mind that Harper was on the receiving end of treatment he should never have received from any of us, he didn't deserve that and we must not forget what he went through."

"Are you asking me to pamper to the boy?" Tyr asked.

"I'm asking you to be fair, and understanding," Dylan countered and Tyr simply frowned, and looked away with disinterest.

"You're asking a Nietzschean to change a habit of a lifetime," Beka sneered, clearly unhappy.

"Just be aware," Dylan finished, looking at Tyr before checking the view screen that showed the corridor outside med deck. "We don't know how Harper is feeling, or when he'll talk to any of us, so try and not kill each other in the mean time," Dylan offered with a brief smile.

Beka glared at Tyr, before resuming her duties at the console needing the distraction.

* * *

Trance smiled at Harper as she moved in to hug him, and he tried not to back away knowing she was pleased to see him, but he was worried about his still healing injuries.

"Watch the shoulder," Harper warned, before Trance could squeeze him tight. Finally Trance let him go and then just appeared to be visually checking on him. "I'm fine, just a little tired and freaked, that's all," he offered with a lopsided grin.

"Trance, the dressings need to be changed and you might want to check the work that was done to fix Harper's injuries, my trust in that facility is not high and I suspect their advertising has no truth in it. That medical facility was not high standard and was not well maintained," Rommie stated.

"I will do a full check up," Trance offered.

"Looking forward to it," Harper grinned.

"Do you still wish for me to stay, Harper?" Rommie asked, knowingly.

"No, I'll be fine, ignore what I said earlier, I think nerves just got to me, now I'm back on board I'm good," Harper stated, and with a nod of heads, Rommie left then both.

Trance gathered her equipment and then gestured to Harper to remove his shirt, after only a few brief protests and then a come on, Harper finally laid back on the cot and let Trance begin her examination. There was silence between them, as Trance carefully removed the bandage that covered Harper's shoulder.

"Does this wound hurt?" Trance asked.

"No, it's a bit irritating," Harper responded.

"They didn't completely seal the wound, there's a small infection but nothing serious," Trance responded with care, and immediately set to work on fixing the problem. "Do you remember what happened?"

"Every last detail," Harper simply responded. "I know it was Dylan that shot me in the shoulder, I remember that look of disgust he wore as he fired the shot, that I was defacing his ship by my very presence," Harper continued.

"Harper," Trance's tone carried a warning.

"I know," Harper pre-empted. "Dylan wasn't feeling himself and he was just defending his ship, he didn't know who I was, I know all that."

"But?" Trance now pre-empted.

"Still happened, I still got shot, I can't just forget or pretend it didn't happen," Harper stated.

"No one is asking you to," Trance assured him, and Harper didn't respond, as Trance finished tidying up his shoulder and putting a fresh dressing on it. "This should be healed in the next twenty-four hours, try not to get the bandage wet."

"Can I go now?" Harper hopefully asked.

Trance just looked at him to give him his answer, and he looked away in preparation for the next set of questions, and examination. Trance turned her attention to the removable cast around his left arm, protecting his healing fractured wrist. With care she removed the cast and then scanned his wrist.

"Yes," Harper simply said.

"Yes?" Trance questioned unsure.

"That is giving me pain," he frowned; his wrist had been aching since he'd woken up in the medical facility.

"It seems to have been a bad fracture, how did you do this?" Trance innocently asked as she tried to determine if the bone was healing. When Harper didn't answer, Trance looked up and saw he was simply staring ahead, his expression cold. "It appears that your wrist was also dislocated, but the facility only treated the fracture," Trance then concluded, unsure as to whether to push Harper to tell her more. "You have some tendon and muscle damage," she added.

"Explains why it still hurts like hell," Harper finally remarked.

"I will treat it, and then put it in a permanent cast for a few hours to aid healing, you should then be able to wear the removable cast without discomfort for a couple more days to complete treatment," Trance smiled, and still sensed an unease about Harper. "Seamus, I know how your wrist got damaged."

Harper's eyes rapidly moved to meet Trance's and he simply stared at her with an expression mixed with fear and anger. "You saw?"

"I reviewed a security log that Andromeda made available to me, I had to know why the crew did what they did, I had to know what they did," Trance offered, and she gently with care took Harper's hand into her own. "It helped me to determine the cause, and snap them out of their delusion."

"She killed me, did you see that?" Harper asked, and his voice sounded accusing.

"I saw," Trance nodded her head. "I know it makes little sense, but that wasn't Beka, you know that."

"Funny, when I was gasping my last breath it sure looked like Beka, and that was definitely her laugh I heard," Harper stressed, and then relaxed slightly. "I know it wasn't Beka," he stated before Trance did. "But do you know what it feels like to know that for a few seconds the one person I trust above all else in this sorry universe actually took my life, and laughed."

"It wasn't Beka," Trance simply said.

Harper threw his head back and closed his eyes. "Try telling my memories and nightmares that, maybe then I'll understand."

Harper jumped slightly when Trance's hand traced a round burn mark just below his collarbone, and the tried to forget the reason he'd been burned.

"What she did under the influence of that gas, and the delusion was unforgivable, Harper, I know that, and so does Beka," Trance carefully spoke. "But you have to believe that the circumstances leading to that delusion does make what happened between you and Beka, make sense."

"It does?" Harper opened his eyes, and looked at Trance with some hope. "You mean it will make sense?"

"Andromeda playback recording Trance Gemini alpha zero four zero," Trance ordered and gestured to the nearby screen.

Harper saw the screen flicker to life, and then watched as he listened to Dylan, Tyr and Beka talk themselves into the group delusion, only a short time before his world seemingly turned upside down. Beka was mocking his love life and talked of giving him a dose of his own medicine, and they talked about what the ship would be like without him and he was encouraged by their words, in the face of his uncertainty since the incidents on board that had almost killed him.

"So you see," Trance began once the playback ended. "They messed up their own heads, before messing with yours."

"They didn't get shot at, or worse," Harper returned flippantly.

"They didn't know what they were doing, only what they had done after the event and that in turn has made them all react in different ways," Trance responded.

"You mean they're suffering in their own way?" Harper frowned.

"Yes, once they discovered what they had done they were unable to understand that what had felt so right at the time, like any mission they go on, one minute suddenly became something completely different in a blink of an eye," Trance frown as she looked at Harper. "They had hurt a trusted colleague and friend, and driven him off the ship for his own safety," Trance stated.

Harper looked away, unable to look at Trance as his mind once more became conflicted by his thoughts and feelings.

"Thanks," Harper then offered.

"Thanks?" Trance pushed for more.

"For showing me what they had said, that made them act like they did," Harper shrugged. "It's helped," he added, and remained staring away from her.

Trance wanted to sigh but resisted, knowing that Harper was shutting himself off and that he was done talking, she could tell by his body language that he didn't want to discuss the matter any longer. In the silence Trance moved to his leg and was able to push his cargo pants back enough to check the wound and change the bandage.

"Your leg is healing fine, no problems there," Trance finally offered once she was done and Harper immediately sat up to move. "Rommie told me that you fainted last night."

"I was over tired," Harper returned.

"I should still run some tests, just in case," Trance stated and stopped Harper from jumping down from the cot.

"I just want to sleep, I'm tired and it was nothing," Harper dismissed, his voice rapidly degenerating into a whine.

"It will only take a few seconds to take the initial scan needed," Trance argued and quickly adjusted her scanner to take the readings. "There, all done," she smiled and Harper wasted no time in retrieving his shirt once he had jumped down. "Are you going back to your room now?" Trance asked.

"Probably," Harper shrugged. "Unless there's other stuff I need to do?" he questioned.

"You've been signed off duty for three days, your wrist and shoulder need to heal before you can return," Trance offered.

"Fine," Harper stated without complaint, surprising Trance, knowing he normally wanted to get back amongst his work sooner rather than later.

"Harper, Seamus," Trance put her hand on his arm and he stopped on hearing her say his first name, looking back at her before leaving. "Talk to me, if you ever need to, don't feel that you have to pretend that what happened never did."

Without response, Harper just briefly smiled before leaving, and Trance sighed heavily wishing she could do more to make things right for Harper once again.

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

Part 9

"Andromeda, where's Harper?" Beka asked.

"Harper is currently in his quarters, privacy mode engaged," Andromeda answered.

Beka sighed, and looked across to Dylan and Tyr who were looking back at her. "He can't still be sleeping, he's avoiding us."

"Do you blame him?" Tyr answered. "The last time any of us saw him we were trying to kill him," he shrugged.

"How are we supposed to make things right if he hides away?" Beka asked impatiently.

"We said we'd give him space and time," Dylan reminded her.

"In two days he's back on duty, what then?" Beka questioned.

"We give him a list of duties to perform and we do our own duties, like it's always been," Tyr answered, with a touch of annoyance.

"Tyr, just because you feel nothing towards Harper, or any shame about what you did to him, doesn't mean we're all heartless asses as well!" Beka snapped.

"Ok, enough," Dylan demanded his voice loud. "I have had it with you two sparring off each other, do you really feel this benefits Harper?" he asked. "If we want to help Harper we have to make things feel right on board this ship, and comfortable, and you two biting each other's heads off is not right!"

Beka looked down at her console, as Tyr remained as passive as ever. Finally Beka looked up. "I can't do this, Dylan, I can't pretend nothing happened, and I can't just act like everything is normal around here, we should all listen to each other to see how much this is already affecting us, not just Harper," she stressed and left the command deck without waiting for a response.

Dylan frowned and once he was sure Beka was a good distance away, he moved to Tyr's console. "I know you feel something for what you did to Harper, and I know its not in your make up to show it, but please for Beka's benefit show some remorse, even if it's only a little bit of interest in helping Harper settle back into the swing of things around here."

"The little man needs no help to settle back in," Tyr simply said. "He did not come from a nice place and I'm betting he's quite able to get through this a lot better than other members of your crew," Tyr spoke with conviction.

"If you've already sussed that then why do you taunt her, push her buttons?" Dylan asked.

"She needs to realise that you must always take responsibility for your own actions, regardless of circumstance," Tyr answered with disinterest. "We have," he then added knowingly.

"That maybe so, but its up to Beka herself to realise this, we shouldn't push her," Dylan warned, and with only a glance Tyr acknowledged his words and continued with his work, as the captain moved away.

* * *

The chime had awoken him; at least Harper assumed that had been the thing that had stirred him from what seemed a deep sleep. On instinct and before he could think about his actions he responded to let whoever was outside in, but as the door opened and he heard Beka's voice, Harper froze as his memories came flooding back and he momentarily panicked, he wasn't ready for this yet.

"Harper?" Beka's voice sounded, and then she repeated his name with more panic and was by his side in an instant. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah," Harper mumbled, but had not yet managed to move and as he became more aware he realised that he was lying on the deck of this quarters.

"Why are you on the floor?" Beka asked with confusion, as she helped him to sit up. Harper grimaced as his still healing shoulder shot pains through him. "Take your time," Beka grimaced with him, seeing his pain.

"I don't remember," Harper had to admit, then felt Beka's palm against his forehead.

"You don't have a temperature," Beka noted. "But you don't seem particularly with it either, we better move you to the bed."

Harper duly followed, as Beka led him to his bed and sat him down. Once there Harper composed himself and rubbed his head, trying to remember. Part of him suspected that he had got drunk, but as he looked around he couldn't see any empty bottles to support that theory.

"Are you in any pain?" Beka asked with concern, and Harper had so far managed to avoid looking at her, just sensing her presence in his dazed confused state.

"Aches," Harper complained, and attempted to stretch out the kinks left from sleeping awkwardly on the floor.

Beka seemed to be considering the same thing when she spoke again. "Only other times I've found you laid out on the floor barely awake is after one of your infamous sessions with the drink."

"But there's no evidence," Harper tiredly responded.

"You don't remember anything?" Beka checked, and Harper shook his head. "I'm calling Trance."

"No," Harper was quick to stop her. "Please?" he gestured and blinked his eyes some more. "Had enough of check ups and besides, she is already running tests, I think I'm just stressed and tired, nothing she can say will change that."

Harper felt Beka's hand on his back, soothing him and he tried hard not to flinch. The longer she was sat with him the more his memories replayed their previous time together, alone and in the conduit and Harper began to find it harder and harder to ignore the fact that Beka was acting as if nothing had happened.

"I need to rest," Harper offered quietly.

"You want me to leave?" Beka checked and Harper simply nodded his head. "I want to make sure you're ok first."

Harper bit his tongue, knowing anything he might say he may live to regret so instead he hoped his silence would convince her to leave. Unfortunately, Beka had other ideas.

"Harper, look at me," Beka then insisted and he knew he wasn't ready to do that, not without his emotions and inner rage at what had happened coming to the surface, so he avoided her stare and her request, choosing instead to sit in silence by her side.

"Seamus," Beka spoke again.

"Don't," Harper warned his voice low and unable to hide his growing distress by her being there.

"I want to explain," Beka persisted.

"I want to rest," Harper stressed.

"Don't avoid the issue, Harper," Beka stated and Harper got to his feet and moved away from her, stopping on the other side of the room as he tried to control his growing anxiety.

"I don't want to lose you as a friend, but please, don't, not yet, not now," Harper requested as well as he could. He leant against the far wall and slid down to the ground, resting his head against his knees. "I just want to rest, my head hurts and I don't need this right now, I asked to do this in my own time so please," Harper pleaded.

"I think you should let Trance look at you," Beka's voice sounded closer now, and more concerned.

"I'm ok, I just need to be left alone," Harper mumbled and looked up, letting his head fall back against the wall.

"Harper, you don't look well," Beka spoke softly now, her hand came to rest of his knee but Harper didn't respond, and he continued staring ahead. "Harper, please, don't hide away if you're not well," she persisted but Harper was continuingly chewing his teeth now, the sound irritating as Beka tried to snap him out of it, but his stare was unrelenting. "Harper, please, don't do this, don't ignore me, just come with me, let's go and see Trance," Beka attempted to move Harper but he nervously fidgeted now, his arm seemed to be in a spasm.

Beka moved away as Harper suddenly keeled over and his body shook, caught up in a seizure of some sort. The shock hit Beka and she was unable to do anything but watch, as Harper's body tensed and he then attempted to get up, but his efforts were clumsy almost like he was intoxicated as his co-ordination sent him crashing into the wall. Snapping herself out of her shock, Beka tried to guide Harper away from danger, but he continued to stumble around. His body was in no way co-ordinated, and Beka tried in vain to assist him until he finally collapsed back to the deck and Beka could only ensure he remained on his side, in the recovery position, until finally he seemed to calm down enough for the rapid movements to stop.

"Medical emergency, Harper's quarters, Trance come quick," Beka ordered, her voice flustered. "Harper," she spoke with panicked breaths, when the younger human finally groaned and seemed to respond finally.

"What happened?" he wearily asked, once again unawares as to why he was on the floor.

* * *

Dylan was not happy as he sat at his desk and stared at his first officer, Beka, who by comparison seemed unfazed by his mood.

"He specifically asked that we didn't disturb him until he was ready to talk," Dylan finally spoke. "You directly disobeyed his wishes, and my orders."

"And a good job too," Beka simply answered. "He is not well."

"We already knew that," Dylan argued.

"So you let him activate privacy mode so he can suffer in silence?" Beka questioned. "I witnessed him having a fit!"

"That Trance believes was an anxiety attack that may have been caused by you being there," Dylan returned and got to his feet.

"You don't know that," Beka stated defiantly.

Dylan took a deep breath. "What was his mood immediately before he collapsed?"

"He was unsure, I found him on the floor when I arrived so to me that says he's had more than one of these attacks," Beka suggested.

"He's already been discharged from med deck with no signs of illness, Beka," Dylan reminded her. "What were you both talking about when he had the attack you witnessed?"

Beka looked uneasy now, for the first time and showed a reluctance to talk. "I was asking him to talk to me, about what happened," Beka finally revealed.

"You took it upon yourself to push the subject?"

"It wasn't like that," Beka snapped, and got to her feet. "Something is wrong, and you can blame me all you like, I know what I saw and I know there's an explanation for what happened, and it isn't the first time," Beka countered. "Rommie told us Harper fainted the night before he returned."

"He's just experienced a very traumatic event, involving people he trusted and you think he can return and not have any psychological effects from that?" Dylan questioned.

"I'm just saying that I think there's more to this," Beka remained calm. "Harper is not weak, he's seen worse than either of us can imagine. I'm not saying that what we did to him hasn't affected him, but I know he's stronger than that," she stated and left Dylan's office.

Dylan returned to his seat and rubbed his face, before calling for Andromeda. Her hologram soon appeared before him and he frowned. "I want a full analysis done on Harper, and keep an eye on him for the next few days," Dylan ordered wearily.

"He is currently on the Eureka Maru, I am unable to keep a comprehensive check on him there," Andromeda revealed.

"I'm betting he's fully aware of that," Dylan sighed, and briefly smiled. "Do what you can, and keep me posted."

"Dylan, my avatar is on her way to see you," Andromeda stated.

Dylan looked at Andromeda on the screen, a little confused as to why she was telling him this. "Is there a problem?" he tentatively asked.

"Since she returned with Harper, I have felt," Andromeda paused as she considered her next words. "Troubled, by her presence."

"Troubled?"

"Harper has not yet reconnected her to our core being, so I am unsure what it is she is feeling, but she has not been forthcoming with information," Andromeda revealed.

"She's keeping you in the dark?" Dylan was slightly amused now, knowing it must be a new experience for Andromeda to be cut off from part of her self, but aware enough to know when something is wrong.

"Please talk to her, and remind her to reconnect," Andromeda simply said before she blinked out of sight.

Dylan remained smiling as Rommie entered his office. "Captain, can I talk to you?"

"Take a seat," Dylan gestured.

"It's about Harper," Rommie began.

"Just lately that's a familiar theme," Dylan answered. "I just had to talk to Beka about her possible part in his latest visit to med deck."

"Dylan, I'm not happy."

Dylan looked at Rommie, and her words were enough to concern him. "Tell me what's bothering you."

"Harper would be dead now, had he not disconnected me from my core and I had not reached him in time," Rommie stated. "I'm finding it hard to simply accept that what took place happened because of a pure accident."

"But you know we were not ourselves," Dylan was quick to point out.

"Yes," Rommie agreed with care. "But that doesn't make it right."

"Then what are you expecting us to do?" Dylan was curious to find out.

Rommie looked away. "You should review procedures regarding threats on board this ship, and how you handle them."

"To be honest, Rommie, the frame of mind we were all in I doubt we'd have listened or followed procedures," Dylan sighed.

"But I could have, only I was powerless to overrule you or do anything to help Harper, even though I knew he was a part of my crew," Rommie stated firmly.

"I was still captain, and at times of crisis where the ship is possibly under threat I have to assume full control, Rommie what happened was a one off and not a text book incident," Dylan argued and then got to his feet. "I understand that what happened was unforgivable, but Rommie, we can't erase the past and we need to move on."

"Is that what you will tell Harper when you get to speak to him?" Rommie questioned.

"Not exactly and that's different," Dylan stated. "Harper was on the receiving end of treatment I wouldn't expect to be inflicted on any enemies that board this ship," Dylan stated sincerely.

Rommie got to her feet. "You shot me, as well as Harper, Captain," she reminded him bluntly. "And what I find most difficult to understand is that not once did you, Tyr or Beka question why I was there, you questioned my physical presence," Rommie stated before Dylan could correct her. "But not the fact that I can only exist on board the Andromeda, I am her image and her very being, and that alone should have made you stop and consider that what my other ship selves and Trance were saying bore some truth, that Harper was a member of your crew."

"Rommie, I can't stress enough times that at the time he was a stranger in our eyes, and a threat," Dylan stated. "Your appearance did unsettle me, but by then I was too preoccupied with defending my ship."

"I am your ship, yet you failed to defend me or listen to the words I said," Rommie remained sullen. "I bare the face of the ship you serve, and that you trust, and I share the power yet you still chose to ignore the facts, and shoot not just me, but Harper as well."

"I'm not sure what you're trying to achieve with this, Rommie," Dylan admitted, not knowing what else he could say to make things right again.

"I wish I knew, all I do know is that I am unable to just move on and forget," Rommie frowned, as she got to her feet.

"If it helps, I will review the procedures for dealing with onboard threats to this ship," Dylan offered. "Maybe change is required to ensure something like this is never repeated."

"It would help me to accept that what happened will never be allowed to happen again," Rommie partly smiled, still looking troubled.

"And talk to yourself," Dylan then suggested. "Andromeda is concerned about you, and maybe see if Harper is able to reconnect you at some point?"

"I will do that," Rommie agreed, and without another word she left the room.

Dylan slumped back into his chair and rubbed his face, hating the atmosphere that hung heavy on board his ship. Wanting nothing more than to turn the page and move on, for all their benefits, Dylan could only frown on hearing the communications kick in.

"Trance to Dylan."

"Dylan here, go ahead," Dylan quickly reacted, needing the distraction.

"Can you meet me in medical, I have some disturbing news regarding Harper and I think you should be aware of it."

"I'll be right there," Dylan responded and closed the connection. Taking a deep breath, with the feeling of dread returning to the pit of his stomach he stood up and left his office hoping Trance was just exaggerating about her news.

TBC


	10. Chapter 10

Part 10

Beka was fuming as she entered the serving area and grabbed a mug to make herself some coffee, needing something to take her mind off the problems outside her ship. The Andromeda was increasingly becoming a living nightmare but she was unable to just up and leave, this time she had to face up to facts and work things through.

With the fresh coffee made Beka made her way through the ship, and suddenly became aware of the fact she wasn't alone when she entered the crew quarters, her usual sanctuary when onboard Andromeda.

"Harper?" Beka couldn't think who else would be sat up on the top bunk; Harper was the only person who seemed to like it up there.

"Hey," He wearily responded.

"Do you want me to leave?"

"It's your ship," He returned flatly.

"But you have stated that you don't want to see any of us, until you're ready and I just got a roasting from Dylan for seeing you earlier, so I can leave if you need the space," Beka offered.

"Stay," Harper simply returned.

"If you're sure," Beka gestured and moved to the opposite lower bunk.

"Sorry," Harper then spoke to Beka's surprise.

"Sorry?"

"For being the reason Dylan roasted you," Harper offered, and Beka saw movement above before seconds later Harper climbed down and sat on the bunk opposite Beka.

For the first time they made eye contact, and Beka had to concede that he looked a lot better, even though it was just a couple of hours since she had last seen him, when he was having the seizure.

"Are you ok now?" Beka asked.

"Yeah," Harper nodded dismissively. "I don't know what happened, barely remember any of it but I'm good now," Harper half smiled.

"Stress?" Beka ventured.

"Probably," Harper agreed. "I just feel drained," he admitted tiredly. "I just want things to return to normal."

"Me too," Beka sighed, and took a sip from her mug. Harper appeared deep in thought when Beka next looked at him, almost troubled and she could guess the reason why. "I want to do so much more than just apologise, Harper."

"Unless you can turn the clock back I can't think what you can do," Harper admitted. "You killed me," he added accusingly and looked away.

Beka closed her eyes momentarily, finding it hard to hear Harper's voice and the accusing tone it carried. She had dreaded that moment, and now she didn't know what to say to make any of it right, it could never be right. "I will always be indebted to Rommie for saving you, I just wish I knew what I could say or do. I don't want to lose you, Seamus."

"Just promise you'll never kill me again," Harper asked with a touch of flippancy.

"I promise," Beka said with some relief in her voice.

"We should never mention what happened in that conduit ever again," Harper quietly spoke, and Beka noticed that Harper was absently fiddling with the cast on his arm, as he spoke, knowing she had done that damage to him when she had put her entire weight on his arms to restrain him.

"I wish I could explain what was going on in my head at the time," Beka attempted to explain.

"You were teaching me a lesson," Harper shrugged.

"Don't make excuses for me," Beka returned.

"I saw the footage of when the three of you were talking yourself into the delusion," Harper stated as fact. "You wanted to give me a dose of my own medicine, to know what it felt like to be," Harper paused and avoided Beka's stare.

"I took it too far, and what I did to you was in no way any indication of how I think you are," Beka stressed. "I don't think you are as forceful as I was, I'm not sure why I responded to that in the way I did."

"I thought a lot about it," Harper now shrugged, but avoided Beka's gaze as he spoke now. "In part I can see how you were influenced by the delusion to teach me a lesson, to come on strong and see how I like it," Harper stated. "But I think there's always been a part of you that has wanted to put me back in my place, to show your dominance over me, to make me weak."

"What?" Beka was unsure as to what Harper was suggesting.

"When you first found me I was some dumb ass kid that you had taken from some slum of a planet that was so bad I saw the Maru as luxury in comparison, and maybe you saw an ounce of potential that you could maybe use to your advantage," Harper now suggested. "But over time I became more than that, I got myself an identity, I got the port and then I became important, and I made a name for myself once I joined the Andromeda and I was no longer that same dumb ass kid you could push around."

"Harper, no," Beka denied his words. "That's not true, I've never been anything but proud of what you've done for yourself, and I mean that."

"Dylan, Tyr," Harper began. "To protect the ship they did what comes natural, their instincts caused them to shoot at me but with you," Harper frowned. "Your instincts had you humiliate, abuse me, and finally to try and kill me."

"Don't say it like that," Beka stressed.

"To destroy the monster you created," Harper continued.

"That's not true," Beka denied once more. "I did what I did because I wanted to somehow have power over the one who was evading Tyr and Dylan, and because a small part of me was actually attracted to your power."

"I considered that," Harper was already shaking his head. "But it's the easy, safe, convenient option as an excuse, and I know you too well, Beka, your instincts attract you to men twice my size and twice my strength," he stated as fact. "You did what you did because you could, and all you wanted was for me to be dead."

"Why are saying these things?" Beka was confused and upset now by Harper's damning verdict on her.

"You killed me, Beka!" Harper now snapped angrily, and Beka had no reply.

"Trance to Harper," Trance's voice sounded over the Maru's communications. "I need to see you immediately on med deck."

Harper got to his feet, and placed a hand on Beka's shoulder. "I don't hate you, Beka," he spoke softly now. "But I'm in a bad place right now and I can't dress up what happened to save your feelings, I'm sorry, my head is just spinning."

"I understand, and maybe the truth hurts, like they say," Beka accepted with difficulty. "But we can still be friends, right, at some point?"

"Always, Beka, right now," Harper smiled, and encouraged Beka to stand up.

"Even though I killed you?"

"Let's not mention that again, not even in jest," Harper suggested, sounding more like himself as he surprised Beka by reaching out to embrace her fondly.

"I love you, Harper, no matter what, you have to believe that," Beka spoke, leaning her head down onto his shoulder.

"I know, you too," Harper returned, and felt some comfort at last.

"You better go and find out what Trance wants," Beka pulled away and wiped her eyes that were almost threatening tears. "And thanks for saying what I couldn't say myself."

"I might not be right, in fact for once a part of me hopes I'm not, so I'll be waiting to hear you prove me wrong," Harper smirked. "Just remember, I'm a genius, rarely wrong but that doesn't rule out the possibility of chance."

"I'll work on it," Beka grinned now. "And I'll work on my power issues why I'm there."

With a friendly nod of his head, Harper left Beka on the Maru to contemplate what had just been said between them, to try and understand the conclusions Harper had reached, and then appreciate the strength of friendship they had.

* * *

Dylan sat on the cot and put his head in his hands, as he digested the news Trance had just told him. With a shake of the head, he glanced at Trance and saw his feelings matched in her expression.

"How did this happen?" Dylan asked out loud. "This ship is supposed to protect us, and I'm supposed to protect my crew."

"Dylan, we know what happened was an accident," Trance began.

"And this? Can we really put this down to an accident, this is major, Trance," Dylan stressed, jumping down from the cot.

"We should wait for Harper," Trance suggested.

"This will kill him," Dylan sighed, and looked upwards.

"Harper has strength, he may surprise you," Trance shrugged.

"Come on, Trance," Dylan stressed and paced the deck. "Even with the Magog eggs we could offer hope, an alternative."

"And we can now," Trance insisted. "This isn't the end, this is just," Trance paused on hearing Harper's footsteps approach, and she glanced at Dylan to be silent.

Harper stopped on entering the med deck, finding both Trance and the captain waiting for him. It had been the first time he had seen Dylan since the captain had shot him, and he hadn't been expecting an audience.

"Dylan," Harper finally acknowledged and walked towards Trance.

"Mr Harper, glad to see you are up and about again," Dylan acknowledged.

"What's going on?" Harper asked, more towards Trance.

Trance glanced at Dylan, and then back to Harper before speaking. "I felt Dylan should be here when I tell you this, I have the test results."

"Why does he have to be here?" Harper asked confused.

"Your results are not good," Trance simply said.

Dylan moved forward. "I'm here as a friend and as your captain, and I think you should sit down."

"I don't want to, what is this?" Harper stressed, looking between both Trance and Dylan.

"Please, sit down," Trance requested.

"Why can't Beka be here?" Harper asked, as he reluctantly sat down.

"I'll leave if you want me too, but I'm not sure Beka should hear this yet," Dylan hinted, and Harper was suddenly tense.

"Am I dying?" Harper asked, suddenly serious to the situation.

"No, but you have developed a condition that could be life threatening if not treated," Trance offered, and noticed Harper pale slightly. "I don't want to alarm you but the condition alone is not untreatable, and many people are known to have it but in your case, Harper, it's serious."

"What do you mean?" Harper asked confused. "Is it too late?"

"No, I mean in your line of work, your lifestyle, it's going to affect you more so than maybe others who also suffer," Trance explained.

"Just tell me what I have," Harper asked, and his voice sounded harsher than he intended but he was growing tired of the riddles.

"You have some brain damage," Trance stated.

"What?" Harper couldn't help the nervous laugh.

"Your black outs and fits are due to the damage that has occurred to your brain," Trance continued. "There are imbalances present that can not be reverse without major surgery."

"But it can be cured?" Harper tested.

"Yes, and you could make a complete recovery," Trance answered.

Harper glanced at Dylan's expression, then back to Trance. "So what's the catch?"

"The part of the brain affected is the part that makes you susceptible to working within an artificial environment," Trance revealed. "Any surgery that is conducted to cure you of the problem will effectively deaden that area, and make you unable to interface with machines."

Harper's expression grew cold with the realisation. "I'd lose the use of my port?"

"You'd totally lose the ability to communicate interactively with any artificial environment," Trance frowned.

"So I couldn't even wear the glasses or remotely link up?" Harper checked.

"That part of the brain that makes it possible in any sense would need to be effectively numbed, to counter act the damage and restore balance," Trance glanced at Dylan, and saw his frustration at Harper's diagnosis. "Even looking at monitors could trigger attacks, you're brain is now very sensitive to flashes of light and movement, especially artificially created," Trance wanted to sound more positive but it was hard as she looked at Harper's expression.

"And if I don't have this surgery I'll always be prone to these black outs and fits?" Harper checked, and saw Trance nod her head. "There's no option, I'd rather have the fits and blackout than lose my port, or give up my work! It's all I have!"

"Harper, these fits are no easy option," Trance argued. "They could be life threatening, what you have developed is a serious imbalance in your brain activity, I believe on Earth it would be regarded as a form of epilepsy."

"Epilepsy?" Harper checked, recognising the term. "One of my younger cousins had that, could barely go a day without a fit of some kind," Harper remembered, and his memories seemed bad by his expression as he looked away.

"It is common amongst unmodified Humans," Trance frowned. "And you've just told me that it's something that has affected your family, so you must take this seriously, Harper."

"Tell me my options, just tell me the facts," Harper requested after some consideration.

"Your best hope for a complete cure would be to have the operation, it would stop the part of the brain this is causing you to black out and fit," Trance stated. "If you were to have this operation, I would strongly advise that you have the data port removed too, to lessen the stress on that part of the brain," Trance could see Harper already shaking his head in denial at that option.

"Give me more, there must be more options," Harper requested firmly.

"Medication can be used to prevent the attacks," Trance suggested. "This would need to be monitored closely and adjusted regularly, but would not be one hundred percent guaranteed to stop attacks from happening, and they might interfere with your work inside the systems."

"But I could still work," Harper asked.

"Yes," Trance conceded.

"I'll do that," Harper immediately responded.

"I want you to go away and think carefully about this, Harper," Trance requested, and handed Harper a flexi with all the details he needed to be aware of.

Harper stared at the flexi. "How did this happen, exactly?" Harper then asked, with his eyes still transfixed on the flexi.

"You've been exposed to a high intensity of electric shock, during a time when you were using that part of your brain," Trance revealed.

"I've been shocked before when I've been connected," Harper countered.

"There are safety precautions in place if you receive feedback from the terminal you are working at, it might be enough to knock you out, but not to damage your connection or brain," Trance sighed, and knew what was coming and she looked at Dylan.

"Beka did this to me," Harper simply said what the others already knew. "Now I know why she wasn't invited to this little party." Harper tensed as he remembered the shocks that Beka gave him, her laugh as he squirmed under her, his body jolted to extremes under her control. "She did this," he then spoke with fear.

"Harper," Trance moved closer and put a comforting hand on his arm. "Whatever you decide to do, I will support your decision but I want to be sure that you have given this every consideration."

"I can't lose the port," Harper shook his head, his emotions rising. "Trance, this port is all I have, it's me it's what makes me different and not just another kludge trying their luck away from Earth!" he stressed. "It was the first thing I ever got for myself, that I worked for and I need it, I can't do the things I do without it," he was almost begging for understanding now, as Dylan moved forward.

"Harper," Dylan now spoke up. "Go and think about this, your first instincts may not be your best ones."

Harper sniffed and then nodded his head, needing space, he felt too confused and overwhelmed to argue. He jumped down from the cot and began to head towards the exit, when Dylan stopped him.

"We'll tell Beka, so don't worry," Dylan told him.

"No," Harper looked Dylan in the eyes. "I want to tell her, and I want to be given time to make up my mind about this, please, just let me deal."

"You don't have to deal with this alone," Dylan insisted. "We're a crew, and we stick together so use us."

Harper had to bite back any comments his instincts wanted to return, and instead he took a deep breath and didn't answer. He walked away without reply, leaving Dylan with a clear indication that a lot of work was still needed to bring Harper back again, and he feared the latest development would only serve to push him further away.

TBC


	11. Chapter 11

Part 11

Rommie glanced up as Harper entered the Observation Deck, and on making eye contact she knew something was wrong. She had been trying to make sense of her thoughts, but using the vastness of the space beyond the screens to help had so far failed to quell her unease. Now, on seeing Harper, she wasn't sure what to think.

"Harper?"

Harper didn't respond, and just moved besides Rommie to stare out at the stars beyond.

"Are you ok?"

"I need to reconnect you," Harper idly remarked. "Must be strange not knowing everything that's going on."

"At this moment it's the only comfort I have, it allows me to focus on what I need to think about," Rommie answered, and noticed that Harper looked confused. "You're not the only one struggling to understand."

Harper looked away, and sighed. "Maybe we shouldn't have returned. Maybe things would have made more sense if we'd have never come back."

"Do you believe that?" Rommie asked.

"No," Harper now smirked at how quickly he could change his mind. "I have brain damage."

Rommie looked at Harper, and when he failed to look back at her she put her hand on his chin and turned him to face her. Closing her eyes she used her abilities to scan for medical injuries and discovered the truth. "Harper, I," she spoke and then stopped.

"Second opinions are always good," Harper could only say in response, seeing how stunned Rommie looked.

"I can't believe I missed that."

"You weren't looking," Harper moved her hand away from his chin. "It wasn't exactly the most obvious of my injuries."

"When you fainted?"

Harper nodded his head to answer Rommie's question. "Trance wants to operate," he then stated, and his expression gave away his fear.

"The operation to that part of the brain would effectively cut you off from the artificial world," Rommie answered. "I need you, Harper."

Harper looked at Rommie, and a grin appeared. "I know," he simply assured her. "Least someone understands," he then remarked.

"Trance is right, however," Rommie conceded. "You would benefit more, health wise, from having the operation."

"I would lose everything I care about," Harper countered, and turned his back on the star field.

"You would never lose me," Rommie spoke the words she knew Harper needed to hear.

"As a friend, I know," Harper frowned. "No doubt every one on this crew would remain my friend, maybe with just Tyr as the exception," he quickly added. "But that's not enough, this is all I know and I know all this because of the port, and my abilities to quickly manipulate the artificial world to my will, I can't lose that part of me, it's what makes me, me," Harper stressed.

"No one can take that away from you, not even Trance," Rommie assured him.

"Don't have the operation?" Harper checked if he was reading Rommie's tone correctly.

"It is possible for you to still continue to work, but there will be the ever present risk each time you pick up your tools," Rommie advised him.

"There's always a risk present when I pick up my tools, surely you've figured that out by now," Harper joked. "But seriously, I'm not sure it's enough of a risk to make me give this port up, or my work."

"There's always a chance one of those fits could kill you," Rommie reminded him.

"And there's always a chance Tyr could betray us, kill us all, or any of those uber prides could turn, hell we could be boarded by the Magog again, Rommie," Harper emphasised. "I don't see a difference."

"If I asked you to simply check if my sensors are aligned to their maximum capacity and that was the last action you did, I'm not sure the others would see your sentiments in the same way," Rommie frowned.

Harper took a deep breath and looked away. "Killed by a simple maintenance procedure," he offered. "Not exactly how I see myself leaving this plain, but you know just a couple of days ago I wouldn't have guessed that Beka would be the tool of my death, but she nearly was."

"You sound as though you have already made up your mind," Rommie stated.

"There was never a choice, and besides I'm sure the medication will do enough to ensure I have a fighting chance," Harper offered brightly.

"Just another reason for me to have to worry about you," Rommie smiled.

"Wouldn't want it any other way," Harper decided and then Rommie noticed him tense. "Now, I have to tell Beka the news."

"She did this to you."

"I know."

"Are you sure you should be the one to tell her?" Rommie checked.

"I'm sure, and I want to, I think she needs to hear it from me," Harper stated, as he began to walk with Rommie by his side.

"Are you angry?"

"No."

"Then you're right," Rommie agreed. "She'll never forgive herself."

"She didn't do it."

"You've accepted that now?" Rommie asked, as Harper looked at her with care.

"I just want to forget and holding grudges makes that kind of hard," Harper frowned. "I know Beka cares about me and I know of right mind she'd never have done that stuff to me, she's always been there before for me," he then smirked, his expression suggesting irony. "Just before I found out about the brain damage, Beka and I had pretty much sorted ourselves out, I thought that was that and we could move on but now this," he frowned.

"I'll be there for you too, Harper, you know that, right?"

"I know," Harper smiled fondly. "The whole crew will be, just like old times, even Tyr will be all for the Harper love," he teased now.

Rommie smiled. "Is this how you've always dealt with things, Harper?" she then asked with curiosity.

"You mean the old tried and trusted sweeping things under the carpet method?" Harper checked and saw Rommie frown, knowing she didn't fully appreciate the old Earth saying. "Yes," he simply added and looked away, as they continued to walk.

"I told Dylan that I am not happy," Rommie then revealed.

"What?" Harper looked back at her.

"What they did to you," Rommie responded. "It was unforgivable and I can't just forget what I saw, and what they did."

"I wasn't exactly thrilled myself, but it's ok," Harper offered sincerely.

"It's not ok, Harper," Rommie stated. "I can't just sweep what happened 'under the carpet', I had to fight to bring you back, and then protect you so you left this ship, me, alive, Harper."

Harper stopped walking and in turn stopped Rommie proceeding any further. "It still doesn't make sense to me, and maybe it never will and I have to live with a lot of crap now because of those mad few hours, but Rommie, we still have to live and work on this ship," Harper stated firmly. "Why make that hard for ourselves, it's easier to just move on."

"I can't help but think that I did this to you, Harper, that I caused what happened to you," Rommie then admitted.

Harper grabbed hold of her arms and made sure she looked at him before he spoke. "Don't you dare take the blame, Rommie, don't you dare! It was an accident just like the boss says," he stressed firmly.

"My safety protocols malfunctioned so that gas was released," Rommie reminded him.

"Then its my own fault for not being on top of making sure all the safeties were working," Harper countered. "You want me to take the blame?" he questioned.

"You couldn't have prevented it," Rommie argued.

"Either could you, it happened, that's life, its crap but there's nothing we can do about these things," Harper finished, and let go of the android. "Just another crappy life lesson in our sorry existence," he added, looking sorry for himself.

Rommie considered his words and seemed to understand. "I will try to move on," she simply said. "For you, to help you, Harper," she smiled.

"And if you help me, I'll help you, if we can't trust the others we'll always have each other, agreed?" Harper smiled.

"It's not about trust so much, but agreed," Rommie accepted, not wishing to continue with the discussion knowing Harper had so much to think about already, without adding her concerns to the mix.

"Do you want to be reconnected now?" he then asked.

"Yes," Rommie answered, and then continued. "During our escape I was hit several times by force lance blast, if you are able I would like you to check that the damage has been repaired adequately by the nanobots," Rommie requested.

"Of course," Harper spoke without hesitation. "You should have said earlier, been so caught up with myself I didn't even think," he frowned. "We can do that now," he enthused.

"Harper, your condition?" Rommie questioned.

Harper showed a flash of frustration at the reminder. "I'll be fine, I'm not going to let this control me, and I'm going to start right now by doing what I do best, my job and looking after my Rom doll," he grinned.

"If you're sure," Rommie checked, but seemed to brighten at Harper's words.

"I'm sure," Harper agreed, and gestured to Rommie to walk with him towards his workshop.

* * *

Beka walked onto command, ready to face the new day fresh from one of one of the best night sleeps she had experienced for a while. She saw Dylan at his usual station, and as she approached he looked at her and smiled.

"Hey Dylan, have you seen Harper lately?" Beka asked, looking around just in case she had missed him.

"Not since yesterday," Dylan answered.

"Me either, not since he rushed off to see Trance on med deck," Beka casually spoke.

"Really?" Dylan showed surprise, knowing that meant Harper hadn't told Beka about his condition.

"Yeah, why, do you think I should have seen him?" Beka picked up on Dylan's surprise.

"Just thought you'd have seen him between then and now," Dylan dismissed.

"Have you apologised yet?" Beka then asked.

"Not had the chance, but I hope to speak to him today, planning to get that out the way before our conference in a couple of hours," Dylan stated.

"What about Tyr?" Beka checked.

"No idea," Dylan answered.

"Who are these losers we're entertaining today, anyway?" Beka asked, seeing Dylan was preparing his speech, as she looked over his shoulder.

"They are not losers, Beka," Dylan half smiled. "They are a small colony of humans who originate from the Nann home world, and have set up a new home on their sister planet," he stated. "They want to sign up to the commonwealth to make use of research facilities and share information they find on their new planet."

"What about the citizens of Nann?" Beka asked.

"Not interested, they have no need for the commonwealth, their words, not mine," Dylan stated, still engrossed in his work.

"So sounds simple enough," Beka reasoned. "So what's going to go wrong?"

"Nothing," Dylan stressed. "But to be sure, I want to make my peace with Harper, and possibly encourage Tyr to do likewise before the party arrives on board."

"Harper won't do anything, Dylan, you don't have to worry," Beka advised him.

"It's for my own peace of mind," Dylan admitted. "It's all well and good preaching to these potential new members about harmony and goodwill, but they weren't trying to kill their own crew member just a few days ago."

"Andromeda, locate Harper for me," Beka then asked.

Andromeda appeared on screen. "Harper is in workshop six, running simple maintenance checks on some medical scanners that Trance left for him."

"Is he ok?" Dylan asked, surprising Beka.

"Harper is fine, though restless so Trance found him a simple task to complete with the checks."

"Good," Dylan simply said, ending the communication.

"Is he ok?" Beka repeated towards Dylan when Andromeda's image disappeared. "Bit late to be asking that, don't you think?"

"Don't start, we all did things that we regret," Dylan quickly answered, knowing Beka wasn't aware of his reasons for asking.

"So, are you going to talk to him?" Beka seemed to be waiting for Dylan. "He's not exactly busy at the moment, and seems to need the distraction."

"I will, once I finished this, if I ever finish this," Dylan offered sounding stressed, gesturing to his console. "Maybe you should go and talk to him."

"Ok," Beka spoke a little unsure. "I'll go check on him," she stated before leaving command, and Dylan to hope that Harper would not back out of telling Beka, knowing she had to find out sooner rather than later, for all their sakes.

TBC


	12. Chapter 12

Part 12

Harper examined the handheld unit in his hands, and his mind drifted to the possibility of no longer being able to do the work he was attempting to do. It didn't seem real, that an operation to improve his health would mean he could no longer work with units like these. He switched the power on and looked at the array of information that flashed up on the screen, feeling a little nervous to the pit of his stomach. Whether it was the nerves, or an actual general sensation, Harper felt the beginnings of a head ache as he made sense of the information on the screen in front of him. This couldn't be happening, he considered sadly, machines were the one thing that had always made sense to him and getting his port had been the breakthrough in enabling him to make something of himself and now that was being threatened, and he felt angry. The universe, he considered now, really did hate him.

"Harper?"

"Beka," Harper spoke up with surprise, and immediately put the hand held down on the bench in front of him.

"Busy?"

"Just looking at these units," Harper gestured, recovering his composure.

"I thought you were off duty?" Beka moved closer and picked up the hand held that Harper had just been looking at.

"I am," Harper agreed. "I'm just a little restless, so I thought I'd do some basic analysis," he offered.

"You don't have to explain," Beka smiled knowingly. "How are you feeling now?"

"Better," Harper nodded his head, but deep down his stomach was jumping hoops, knowing he would have to tell Beka the truth and had so far successfully avoided doing so. "Actually, we need to talk," Harper then frowned.

"I knew it," Beka remarked.

"You did?"

"Dylan was acting funny, he more or less ordered me to come and see you," Beka stated softly.

"He did?" Harper almost gulped, he had hoped no one would have noticed his avoidance in telling Beka immediately.

"It's serious isn't it?" Beka picked up on Harper's nervous actions.

Harper gestured to his rest area of the workshop. "We should sit down," Harper offered briskly, and indicated to Beka to sit down at the end of the bed, as he sat down beside her.

"What is it, Harper?" Beka asked with concern.

Harper stood up, clearly anxious, as he paced in front of her trying to find the best way of telling her the bad news, and her part in it. Finally he stopped, and paused as he looked at Beka fondly. "It changes nothing, ok?"

"What doesn't?" Beka demanded. "Please just tell me what's going on, I mean the fact Dylan obviously already knows, Harper, you're scaring me here."

Harper sat down, and for a moment he took Beka's hands into his own, before pulling away again and putting his head in his hands. Taking a deep breath still holding his head, and not looking at the blonde captain he spoke. "I have brain damage."

"Brain damage?" Beka repeated, shock in her voice. "How, when?" she asked quickly. "How bad is it?"

Harper sat up and sighed. "It can be cured, in a manner of speaking, so that it wouldn't affect me," he shrugged.

"The black outs and seizures?" Beka then recalled, and Harper simply nodded his head. "Harper, what happened?"

"You," Harper paused, instantly seeing the horror on Beka's face with that one word spoken. "You, in the conduit, the shocks," he could barely bring himself to say the truth as he saw Beka's face fall.

Immediately Beka got to her feet, and Harper was at a loss as to what to do so he remained seated. He felt dreadful for telling her, but knew she had a right to know, and he wanted her to know from him. Deep down he was still angry by the situation, but he couldn't be angry at her, even though it would probably make it easier to accept if he had someone to blame. Beka was his rock however, and now she was hurting, not physically, but Harper knew he had just turned her world upside down and he hated himself for doing that to her.

"I'm sorry, Beka," Harper spoke, not knowing what else to do.

"You're apologising to me?" Beka responded, her voice emotional. "Seamus, I don't think you have anything to apologise for!"

"I just don't want you to," Harper paused, his words sounded so stupid given the situation, and he got to his feet to stand behind Beka. "Don't do this to yourself, things are cool, don't punish yourself, it was an accident."

"How bad is it?" Beka spoke without emotion, still facing away from him. "You said it can be cured?"

"I'd need an operation," Harper shrugged, trying to sound cool. "But I'm not going to have it."

Beka spun around to face him. "What?"

"Beka, it's not as easy as just fixing the damage," Harper explained quickly.

"Harper you will have that operation, don't make me have to watch you suffer because of what I did to you, if there's a way to fix it, just fix it," she stressed.

Harper took a deep breath, and looked at Beka. "It would mean losing everything, Beka, my life, my work and my passion."

"What?" Beka couldn't comprehend what Harper was trying to say. "How can fixing the damage lose you your life? I thought it was going to make you better?"

"Physically maybe," Harper moved away, before turning back to her. "But I'd lose the port and any ability to interact with artificial environments. I would lose the very thing that makes me, me," Harper stressed with force. "I can't give that up, Beka, not even for you, I'd rather die."

Beka just stared at Harper, taking in the weight of his words and she seemed lost for a moment, as she considered a response. "My god, Harper," she spoke, and her voice sounded shaky.

"Beka, please, don't," Harper attempted to make her feel a little better, as he moved forward. "Look, things will be fine, I'll just have to take more care, it'll be ok," he reasoned but Beka's emotions were breaking and she moved away from him. "Don't go, please, stay, we should talk, Beka!" Harper spoke desperately but Beka had already turned and was half way out the door, barely containing her emotions.

"Crap!" Harper snapped with frustration, and looked up as the holographic projection of Andromeda appeared. "Great, now I feel like crap, Rommie," he stressed and moved to where he had left his sparky, taking a huge gulp.

"She needs time," Andromeda calmly spoke.

"Maybe," Harper sighed. "I just don't want her to blame herself, or think I blame her, I mean maybe at first I did but," Harper paused, and showed his own frustrations. "I just want things to be normal again!" he raised his voice.

"Harper," Andromeda voice was level, and lacking emotion in comparison. "You need to rest, I am detecting high levels of stress, and your earlier work on those units has adjusted your levels outside of what we deem to be safe, suggesting you may be at risk to an attack unless you calm down and rest."

"I'm fine," Harper snapped and moved to the exit.

"At least see if Trance can give you anything to reduce the risk I'm detecting at present," Andromeda requested.

"Beka's more important," Harper simply said before leaving the workshop.

* * *

Rommie walked onto the observation deck and surveyed proceedings, satisfied that everything was ready for the guests who had just arrived on board. As the last of the droids moved out, Rommie turned and smiled, as Dylan approached, leading the group of eight towards them.

"Please make yourselves comfortable, we have a selection of drinks and snacks for you, before discussions begin," Dylan offered, and Rommie gestured to the table that had been laid out.

"Dylan, a quick word," Rommie took him aside, as Dylan excused himself briefly from his guests.

"What is it?"

"Harper has told Beka about his condition, I think it would be wise not to insist on their attendance to this function," Rommie simply said.

"Did it go well?"

"It's still going," Rommie could only say. "Beka needs some time, and she needs Harper with her."

"Understood, of course they are excused," Dylan considered. "Is Tyr and Trance on their way?"

"Yes, although Trance needs to just administer some medication to Harper, but she should be along soon. Tyr, well, he is taking his time," Rommie could only explain.

"So long as he gets here," Dylan simply said, and with brief nods of the head, they both moved away from each other so Dylan could continue playing host.

* * *

Harper moved along the corridor, consumed by the need to see Beka. His thoughts rushed with the words he could say, or things he could do to make things better for Beka to understand, he really didn't want her blaming herself for what had happened to him. So caught up in his thoughts Harper failed to move out of the way quickly enough before bumping literally into Tyr, on reaching the junction in the corridor.

"Tyr!" Harper jumped back immediately, and then froze on seeing Tyr for the first time since the events that had happened previously.

"I trust you still have eyes in your head, I suggest you try using them," Tyr simply said in response.

"With all your superior uber senses I would have thought you'd have known I was coming," Harper returned sharply.

"I was distracted," Tyr spoke, and for a moment they both stood in silence just glaring at each other.

"Yeah, well," Harper hesitated. "So was I," he offered.

"Are you better?" Tyr asked.

"Yeah," Harper wanted to keep the conversation brief, still wanting to catch up with Beka. "Look, I'd love to stop and chat but I have things to do."

"Likewise," Tyr agreed, but still neither man moved and they just stared at each other.

"So no apology then?" Harper broke the awkward silence.

"I feel no need," Tyr returned.

"Course not," Harper looked away in frustration, and with annoyance. "Probably enjoyed it far too much to think you were wrong, hey, maybe the fact you didn't kill me is killing you right now, right? I'll always be the one who got away, for the whole stinking universe to see," Harper goaded, unsure why he was saying the words he was, or feeling the anger he suddenly felt, just wishing he could just move away and find Beka.

"I spared you your life," Tyr stated.

"Oh please," Harper was riled now. "Don't flatter me uber, you're just lucky I didn't forget who you were, I wouldn't have been so generous."

"Are you threatening me?" Tyr seemed amused.

"Just stating facts," Harper sneered.

"I spared you because I saw your potential to help me," Tyr responded calmly.

"Sure," Harper stated unimpressed. "Not because I outwitted you."

"I was being genuine with my offer to help you, in return for helping me, you should have taken me up on it instead of running away, it would have saved you a lot of unnecessary pain," Tyr stressed.

"You seem to forget my hate hate relationships with ubers, especially those who shoot me in the leg!" Harper returned with venom, but Tyr's words stuck in his gut, as he found himself considering what could have been. "Look, I haven't got time for this, what happened, happened but don't think if the roles had been reversed that I wouldn't have killed you the first chance I got."

"Am I supposed to be afraid of your angered tone?" Tyr asked.

"Thinking material, that's all," Harper dismissed. "Twenty years on Earth, I did a lot of studying of your kind, I know your weaknesses."

"We have no weaknesses," Tyr returned, his composure showing arrogance.

"That's your weakness," Harper simply responded, and turned to continue on his way to Beka. Once Tyr was out of sight Harper stopped and gathered his senses, gasping for breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding as he took a minute to calm down after his confrontation with a guy twice his size.

"You shouldn't speak to Tyr like that, Harper," Trance spoke up, and Harper jumped with a small shriek.

"Trance, don't do that to a guy!" He stressed, wondering where Trance had come from.

"Goading Tyr will not change what happened," Trance continued without reaction to the fright she had given Harper.

"I know," Harper conceded. "But I just feel a little defensive right now, ok?" he explained. "All three of them made me feel pretty small, and I'm not big on feeling that, excuse the pun," he stressed, as he caught his breath.

"You need to calm down and rest, this medication will prove worthless otherwise," Trance spoke, as she pressed the injector to Harper's neck.

"I'm fine, and I really need to check on Beka," Harper stated.

"I need to go and meet with Dylan's guests," Trance put the medication away.

"Guests, on board?" Harper checked with confusion.

"That group from the Hann home world," Trance prompted.

"They're here already? Seems like that conference was weeks away when Dylan first mentioned it," Harper frowned.

"Its ok, you and Beka have been given time to sort out what you need to sort out, so don't worry, you're not expected to attend," Trance smiled.

"So some good has come out of all this," Harper grinned.

"I wish you'd reconsider," Trance then looked at Harper with fondness.

"I'm not having that operation," Harper reiterated.

Trance nodded her head, showing a sadness that nearly had Harper asking her to explain it, but instead he simply let her move away. He knew he couldn't live without his port, or his work, and no matter what, he'd rather live the life he had now than be forced to live like he used to, before he got the port.

* * *

Dylan was pleased to see Tyr had finally showed up, and before the main speeches were made. Making his way over to the Nietzschean, Dylan sensed that Tyr appeared distracted.

"Everything ok?" Dylan offered on reaching Tyr.

"I'm here," Tyr simply answered.

"Apparently only in spirit," Dylan attempted humour.

"I spoke to Harper," Tyr then offered and Dylan was caught by the tone of Tyr's voice.

"When?"

"In the corridor on the way here, he bumped into me," Tyr struggled to explain, and Dylan wanted to know why Tyr was sounding uncomfortable.

"What did he say?"

"That had the roles been reversed, he would have killed me and not spared me as I did him," Tyr shrugged.

"I see," Dylan showed his confusion at Tyr's words. "Does this trouble you?"

"That a human half my size and with only an ounce of my strength would dare to challenge me?" Tyr offered, reverting quickly back to the arrogant soul Dylan was more familiar with. "I simply find Harper's need to threaten me, in the face of what happened, disturbing and a little concerning."

"You didn't expect a bear hug did you?" Dylan couldn't help himself, as he offered a smirk.

"Harper has never challenged me before, has never so much as dared to threaten me," Tyr offered with seriousness. "Yet now he is informing me in no uncertain terms that he knows my weaknesses, and wouldn't be afraid to use that knowledge against me."

Dylan realised the strength of Tyr's words and put it into context. "We should talk to him," Dylan suggested. "His anger is not welcome; we still need to work together."

"That is my concern," Tyr agreed. "Its enough that I stay on this ship, but I will not be forced to have to protect fellow crew from themselves, as much as he may think he knows my weakness, I know for certain what his weaknesses are."

"Tyr, I will ignore the fact that I have heard you making what I deem to be a serious threat, in sound mind, against one of my crew with the promise that I will talk to Harper about this," Dylan stressed. "Maybe I shouldn't have put off speaking to him myself, but these delegations took up all of my time, I will solve this," Dylan repeated his word.

Tyr simply nodded his head, and continued to observe the visitors from where he stood, leaving Dylan to move away hoping that the speeches would go smoothly, and be over quickly so he could try and tidy up once and for all the mess that had been made a few days earlier.

TBC


	13. Chapter 13

Part 13

"Beka?" Harper called out with a little uncertainty, as he walked along the Maru corridors. "I know you're here," he added.

Harper heard some rustling and movement from ahead before seeing Beka ahead of him. She looked tired and worn out, sad and a little uncertain as she just stared at him.

"Are you ok?" Harper asked, unsure of the situation. Beka simply smirked, but there was no humour behind it. "Don't push me away," he then asked, almost desperate for her to acknowledge him.

His final words seemed to snap Beka out of the daze she had been in and she rushed forward to embrace her friend. Harper quickly returned the hug, and held her tight. "It's ok, Beka, promise, it's all good," he stressed as they continued to hold each other tightly.

"I'm sorry," Beka offered, with her voice muffled by his shoulder as she clung to him.

"Hey," Harper brightly spoke and pulled back, looking at Beka now with care. "I said all was good," he stressed. "Now listen to the Harper and don't go upsetting yourself."

Beka found a smirk, and this time there was a smile behind it. "I can't believe you don't hate me," she offered.

"Over it already," Harper grinned.

"But, what I did, what happened," Beka attempted to speak.

"It's over now, so, you tried to kill me and then gave me brain damage," Harper flippantly revealed. "What are friends for if not to forgive and forget?"

"You're crazy," Beka could only respond.

"Brain damage does that to a guy," Harper grinned, but saw Beka's face drop. "Hey, just kidding, come on, please don't be upset."

"It's not a joke though is it?" Beka frowned. "You do have brain damage, and I did that to you."

"It's only an issue if you make it an issue," Harper considered.

"How can I ignore the fact that you're going to need medication for the rest of your life just to try and stop the fits that could kill you, fits that you'll be prone to now every time you fix something, just by doing your job?" Beka stormed.

"You've been speaking to Trance," Harper realised.

"I needed to know the truth of my actions," Beka returned.

"I see she added the full drama chorus as well," Harper dismissed and moved away from Beka. "If your next line is to tell me to have that damn operation, I'll walk away now, I don't want to have that conversation because there's nothing more to say."

Beka moved closer to Harper, and rested her hand on his arm. "I told her you'd have that operation over my dead body," she offered.

It took a moment for Harper to register what she had said, and he immediately snapped his attention round to her. "You did?"

"I told her to back off," Beka smiled.

"She just bugged me about it, on the way here," Harper stated.

"Next time I'll be more forceful," Beka moved in front of Harper. "Harper, I haven't forgotten that determination you had to get that damn port, and I haven't forgotten what it made you able to do, I know what it means to you and I don't want to be the reason it's taken away from you."

"So now I have you and Rommie on side," Harper brightened.

"But you have to promise me that you will take every care to ensure you don't work too hard, or let the fits strike, I know what you're like, Harper," Beka then stressed.

"I'll be good," Harper smiled.

"Promise?"

"I need to lie down," Harper simply answered, remembering what both Andromeda and Trance had told him.

"You're not feeling well?" Beka fussed.

"Apparently my readings are a little high, but I wanted to check on you first, before I rested," Harper explained, and immediately felt a playful punch to his arm. "Ow!" he complained, looking at Beka.

"You can't put others first anymore!" Beka stressed. "I would have just stewed by myself here, you should have rested!"

"I don't need the kid gloves treatment, I just need to take things easy every so often," Harper offered.

"And I don't need to worry that you're ignoring your health because you deem other stuff more important!" Beka guided Harper to the bunks.

"But you are more important," Harper offered.

"Sweet, but if you don't go and rest I'll make sure you think differently," Beka teased.

"Resting," Harper agreed and moved onto the cot, settling down quickly as Beka looked on with care. Once he had closed his eyes, Beka moved away and back into the serving area. Grabbing herself a drink she tried to take in what she had been told, and still it was hard to accept. Moving to the console she activated the link to Andromeda.

"Beka?" Andromeda's image appeared. "Is Harper resting?"

"He's resting," Beka responded.

"His readings were high," Andromeda relayed.

"How's Dylan's little party going?" Beka idly asked.

"The speeches are in progress now, they shouldn't be on board for more than a couple of hours," Andromeda revealed.

"Good, can you ask Dylan to come and see me when he's done? I just need to talk to him," Beka requested.

"As soon as he is free I will tell him," Andromeda agreed.

"Thanks."

"Beka, are you ok?" Andromeda spoke with caution. "I could probably get a message to Trance, she could come and talk to you sooner if you prefer?"

"No, it's ok, I can wait," Beka dismissed and closed communications, moving to the front of the ship to find some space to herself.

* * *

Dylan smiled politely and slowly moved away from his guests, as they spoke enthusiastically to Trance about the plant life on their new planet. To Trance's credit, she was tolerating their small talk and all round curiosity extremely well. Dylan moved towards Tyr who was stood observing their mindless chatter with the enthusiasm of someone who'd rather be anywhere else at that moment.

"The three who left to freshen up, still have not returned," Tyr simply spoke, boredom evident in his voice and obviously seeing no threat from their guests, other than from him to liven things up.

Dylan gestured to Rommie, who left the group and moved over to where they were standing. "I have detected the other three on deck nine," Rommie pre-empted the question.

"Deck nine?" Tyr looked baffled, it was a long way from their current location.

"What happened?" Dylan asked.

Rommie shrugged. "Seems they turned left, when they should have turned right, would you like me to go and retrieve them? They are clearly lost."

"Please, allow me," Tyr jumped in, and Dylan knew both Rommie and Tyr were looking for an escape.

"You will both stay here, you know how these functions play, we can't be seen to abandon our guests," Dylan stated. "I will ask Beka to go and find them, and return them to us."

Neither Tyr nor Rommie seemed pleased by that plan, but Rommie nodded her head towards Dylan to make the call to Beka.

* * *

She was engrossed in the latest action packed chapter of her holo novel when she heard movement at the door, looking up Beka saw Harper was awake after only a couple of hours sleep.

"Hey," Beka switched the novel off and sat up on her bunk. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," Harper offered, clearly still waking up from his brief nap, as he took a seat in Beka's quarters.

"Do you want a snack, drink, anything?" Beka asked, preparing to move.

"No, I'm good," Harper returned. "And I don't need mothering," he added with a slight smile towards Beka.

"Well if I don't mother you, who will?"

"Trance, Rommie, Dylan, Tyr," Harper reeled off but couldn't prevent the smirk that accompanied the last name.

"Well you look better, and if you're mocking Tyr you can't be feeling too bad," Beka smiled and looked at Harper, who seemed obsessed with the support around his fractured wrist. "Is that wrist bothering you?"

Harper just smirked and stopped fussing over the cast. "Not really," he answered distantly and Beka was unsure why Harper had come to see her, he was being surprisingly short with his answers.

"Did Dylan talk to you?" Beka asked with curiosity.

Harper was already shaking his head. "He's the only one who's followed my wishes, about only talking about what needs to be talked about when I'm ready," Harper stated and Beka didn't miss the dig.

"Will you ever really be ready to talk about it?" Beka queried.

Harper frowned and then sighed. "No."

"So you were never going to actively seek us out to talk about what happened?" Beka checked.

"I just want to forget and move on," Harper stated.

"Is it really that simple?"

"I thought it was," Harper offered, and Beka saw for the first time how troubled he truly was, as he avoided eye contact and once again resorted to fiddling with his cast.

"Why did you come back?"

Harper looked up abruptly at Beka, clearly confused by her question. "Gee, make a guy feel welcome," he stressed.

"You've moved on from a bad situation before, and not looked back when you left Earth, so what stopped you running this time?" Beka asked.

"I didn't run from Earth," Harper stressed. "I, me, I called it quits I didn't run," he added, needing to make his point clear. "It took me twenty years to decide I could do better, I've only been on board for three, so I'm not done yet."

"I wasn't suggesting you were a quitter, Harper, just you've had the strength to walk away before without looking back, and I wouldn't have been surprised if you'd done the same on this occasion," Beka shrugged.

Harper got to his feet. "I thought about it," he admitted. "But you know, what happened wasn't so bad, in comparison lets say to the hell that was Earth, so once I got a bit of perspective the decision was easy," he frowned.

"You were shot and got brain damage, how can you even begin to tell me it wasn't so bad?" Beka said with disbelief.

"I'm still standing, and I was walking again the next day after what happened," Harper simply explained. "Nietzschean torture, gang crime, sickness everywhere didn't leave me so healthy when I lived in the camps."

Beka sighed and looked at Harper with care. "You want to move on, fine, I won't keep pushing you about what happened," Beka offered finally.

"Can I ask you a question, something unrelated but at the same time, kinda related," Harper asked.

"So long as it makes more sense than that question, sure," Beka smiled.

"When I was on the world ship, and when I was rescued and brought back," Harper began, and Beka seemed to tense. "Where were you then?"

"Why are you asking this?" Beka stated.

"It's something I've wanted to know for a while, but it's not exactly an easy question to just throw at you and seeing as we're kinda talking about me and my feelings, I thought I'd ask," Harper sat back down again, and seemed to be checking Beka's reactions.

Beka sat back and took her time before responding. "Ok, fair enough," Beka began, looking a little put on the spot. "I was right here, but I couldn't bear to see you like that."

"Like what?"

"When I heard you had been taken," Beka's voice was tense. "I feared the worse, and for a few minutes when I sent that nova bomb into the world ships core I thought I had killed you, all of you," she explained slowly. "I saw just one quick image of you, Harper, all that blood, as they put you on the gurney and it scared me so much, then Trance told me you had those things inside you and it was too much, ok?"

Harper slowly nodded his head, giving nothing away as to how he felt to Beka's explanation.

"Harper, I wanted to be there when you woke up but I was too afraid," Beka continued, hoping her words made sense.

"Afraid?"

Beka nodded her head now, before answering. "I can't explain but I just couldn't do it, I couldn't face you or the truth, a part of me wished you had died to save yourself the pain."

Harper now looked at Beka, and his stare was unrelenting making Beka uncomfortable momentarily. "Harper?" Beka prompted, needing him to speak so her fears wouldn't escalate that she had said the wrong thing.

"You wanted me to die, so I wouldn't experience the pain," Harper repeated, and to Beka's surprise a smile crept across his face. "Finally it makes sense," he grinned now.

"Are you having a new form of funny turn?" Beka questioned unsure.

"I've been struggling to understand why you killed me the other day, what part of your subconscious could want me dead," Harper exclaimed. "It's been bugging me, I needed to understand and now I do!"

"That's why you've let me bug you about what happened?" Beka checked.

"I was hoping it would become clear but up until this moment you were just making it even more confusing, but now," Harper smiled. "You killed me to save me the pain, don't you see?"

"No," Beka admitted.

"You're instincts were not to keep the ship safe, but to keep me safe, subconsciously you must have remembered me, our friendship and you knew the situation was one that would test me," Harper explained with passion. "I was hurt, confused, angry and after that kiss," Harper stressed.

"We kissed? Oh my god, I'd forgotten that," Beka showed genuine horror.

"After the kiss," Harper emphasised with a touch of annoyance at Beka's distraction. "You then attempted to kill me, it wasn't because you hate me, it's because you wanted to save me from the pain."

Beka didn't know what to think or say as she sat staring at Harper, who in a blink of an eye seemed a lot livelier and upbeat. "You believe that?"

"Beka, I was wrong, it happens," Harper offered with a cheeky grin.

"Maybe," Beka began to consider what he had said. "I mean, I really hope deep down I don't suppress an actual urge to throttle you, no matter how many times I have threatened to."

"That's what was scaring me," Harper stressed. "But your explanation after the world ship, it makes sense."

"How did you link that to this?" Beka then asked.

"It's the only other time you've confused the heck out of me," Harper shrugged.

"I didn't think you had noticed," Beka admitted, remembering how she had avoided Harper during those first few days after the Magog infestation.

"I noticed, just chose not to make an issue of it," Harper returned. "And I didn't need another person fussing around me, truth be known I wish they'd all been freaked enough to leave me the hell alone, but it worked out ok so it doesn't matter now," he smiled.

Beka got to her feet and put a friendly arm around Harper, escorting him from her quarters and towards the airlock of the Maru. No more words were spoken until they were on the hanger deck and Andromeda appeared as a hologram in front of them.

"Beka, Dylan has requested that you go to deck nine and escort three of our guests back to obs deck," Rommie spoke with urgency.

"Is there a problem?" Beka asked.

"No, they simply took a wrong turn and are now hopelessly lost, I have tried to assist them but I only seem to be confusing matters, they are not familiar with artificial intelligence," Rommie showed her annoyance.

"Come on, let's go round up the lost sheep," Harper grinned, and encouraged Beka to follow him.

"Tell Dylan we're on the case, but we will not stop for drinks and nibbles, we're still excused," Beka simply said, before Andromeda nodded her head and disappeared.

TBC


	14. Chapter 14

thankies for continuing to read... check out my new fansite for gmw at woolvettbros com

* * *

Part 14

The guests finally got to their feet and both Tyr and Dylan responded immediately to their show of making to leave. With smiles on their faces, and Trance still able to show them polite courtesy, Dylan was relieved to see things had gone well.

"Ambassador, I hope our meeting today has gone some of the way in welcoming you to the commonwealth," Dylan offered his hand.

The ambassador duly shook Dylan's hand with a smile. "I have had the most splendid time, your crew are truly fascinating and we all look forward to making further use of the Commonwealth's facilities in the future."

"We're just escorting your three wayward friends back, and then I'll walk you to your craft," Dylan gestured.

"Yes, I must apologise for my friends, they are new to these meetings and were a little nervous before arriving," the ambassador explained. "I guess their nerves gave them memory loss for a moment, they forgot where they were and how to get back," he grinned but noted the flash of uncertainty on Dylan's face. "Have I said something wrong?"

"No, no," Dylan was quick to speak, replacing his frown with a smile. "Just there was an incident on board a few days back that caused some of us to suffer memory loss, it just reminded me, nothing to worry about."

Rommie moved up beside Dylan. "I have checked, no gas leaks are present, our lost guests are simply that, no outside interference," she sounded amused.

"Thank you, Rommie," Dylan returned, a little embarrassed at being caught out by paranoia. "Any news on an ETA for our missing guests?"

"Beka and Harper have just located them, and are on their way back, should be here in the next ten minutes," Rommie informed the captain.

"Good, and then we can ensure our guests return to their home safely," Dylan smiled, but behind the smile he was exhausted with playing nice and just wanted to kick back and relax.

* * *

"So you think you'll be able to look after yourself to prevent these attacks becoming a problem?" Beka idly asked towards Harper, having found the lost sheep they were now walking ahead of them leading them back to the obs deck. The guests were not great chatters and appeared a little embarrassed by their wanderings, so Beka decided to make the most of the additional time with Harper.

Harper shrugged, but appeared to hesitate before answering. "Sure, I was ok with that stuff Trance gave me when I had the larvae."

"You overdosed," Beka reminded him sharply.

"Oh, yeah," Harper remembered with a frown. "This is different."

"How so?"

"Well firstly no hungry children eating my insides to shreds," Harper offered. "And secondly, I have to take care I mean the alternative for me is worse than death, so this is technically worse than being infested."

"You really have twisted priorities," Beka grinned.

"Come on, keep up," Harper gestured quickly to the three guests they had rounded up, as they continued to walk back towards the obs deck. He watched as they quickened their pace so that they were walking up to speed with them, but Harper also noticed a brief exchange of looks and his instincts kicked in, as his hand moved to his gun but the moment was soon lost when the guests simply kept walking.

"I think my nerves need some time off," Harper grinned, unable to believe he sensed a threat from the guests who hadn't even raised their voices to speaking level since being found, and whose friends Dylan had been entertaining for the past three hours.

"We all need some time off, it's been a tough few days for us all," Beka agreed, and then suddenly yelped as one of the guests without warning got a firm hold of her from behind, immediately immobilising her, despite her instinctive struggles to fight back.

"What the?" Harper spun around but failed to reach for his gun in time, and before he knew what was happening they had a knife to Beka's throat.

"Not so fast," the guy holding Beka warned, and Harper could only offer his hands in the air to surrender, seeing Beka was at their mercy.

* * *

"Dylan, problem," Rommie spoke with concern, and Dylan immediately turned to her. "Our three lost souls have just taken Beka and Harper hostage."

"What?" Dylan demanded loudly with shock, and their other guests also seemed surprised.

"What are they doing?" the ambassador asked.

"Tyr, with me," Dylan immediately ordered and reached for his force lance to charge it up. "Rommie, Trance, keep an eye on our guests," he stated before leaving with Tyr.

* * *

Both Harper and Beka were forced down to a kneeling position and were ordered to put their hands on their heads. Feeling ridiculous they both complied, seeing the knives remaining close to their necks, before they were patted down and all weapons removed.

"You won't get very far, Captain Hunt is very precious about his ship if your plans are to try and take it from him," Beka spoke firmly.

"We don't want his ship," one of the men spoke, as he moved around Harper to check for anything else that could be deemed a threat to them.

"Can I put my hands down now?" Harper complained. "Hurts enough already with this stupid cast on, not appreciating keeping it on my head as well."

"Shut up!"

Harper simply frowned and glanced at Beka, who in turn gave him a warning stare to not make trouble.

"Sergeant I think we've hit jackpot, scans reveal that this is one Seamus Harper and the lovely lady is Beka Valentine, we've only bagged ourselves the commonwealth's top engineer and the best slipstream pilot in the known galaxies," another of the men suddenly spoke up, as he handed his scanner to the lead guy to check.

"Don't flatter yourselves," Beka remarked.

"Yeah, you may have us but unfortunately for you, you've missed the best damn high guard trained captain in the known universe, the most angry will kick your butt to high heaven resident Nietzschean in the known universe as well as a couple of very unique in their own way handy ladies when it comes to kicking slime ball ass," Harper remarked cockily. "In the known universe," he added with a grin.

Harper barely saw the back hand that caught him sharply across the face, nearly causing him to lose his balance from a kneeling position, his hands barely stopping him in time.

"Son of a," Harper began but felt his hair being grabbed and pulled, as the leader forced him to look up at his sneering face.

"Hands on your head where I can see them!" the leader ordered, and pushed Harper's head away with disgust. Harper reluctantly replaced his hands on top of his head and sneered back as the guy remained looking at him. "He'll do, and she'll be the reason."

Beka and Harper glanced at each other unsure, before they heard footsteps approaching. Harper was suddenly pulled to his feet, and pushed in front of the leader who got a firm hold on him and put the knife to his neck. Beside him, Beka found herself in a similar position as Dylan and Tyr came into view, their force lance's aimed.

"Let my people go," Dylan calmly ordered as he slowly approached.

"You won't shoot me, I have your crew hostage," the leader confidently predicted.

"Actually, both of them have shot me in the past week, still got the healing wounds to prove it, so I make a rubbish human shield," Harper remarked and then grimaced, feeling the knife press deeper into his neck. "It's true," he stressed.

"Harper, not the time," Dylan warned and then focused his attention back onto the leader. "Whatever it is you're planning, you'll fail."

"We'll see, now back away," the leader ordered, but neither Dylan or Tyr backed off. "I'm warning you, I can still do what I want to do with only the one hostage, and I firmly believe in old fashion values of ladies first," he warned and the guy holding Beka put the knife closer to her neck to emphasise his point.

"Tell me what you want," Dylan stressed.

"I want you to return to the party, we'll talk once I'm ready and not before, understood?" the leader stated. "Now back off!" he growled and Harper tensed as he felt the knife break the skin of his neck.

Dylan glanced at Tyr, knowing they were in no position to argue in the standoff, and they backed away.

"Don't worry about us boss," Harper managed, still feeling the knife to his throat.

Once Dylan and Tyr were out of site the leader immediately spun Harper around and into the firm grip of his colleague. "Real smart mouth you have there kid," the leader hissed, moving closer to Harper and bringing his hand up to Harper's neck.

"Hey," Beka spoke up. "What the hell is going on here, what do you want?" she asked to distract the leader from his attentions to Harper.

"Let's move, I don't want to conduct my business in a corridor," the leader stressed. "You," he gestured to Harper. "Lead the way."

"Lead, what?" Harper checked.

"I want a location that gives us access to the ships AI, but isn't as open as a corridor," the leader stressed.

"I could recommend the brig, real cosy and often visited by the likes of you," Harper innocently suggested but immediately the leader had a handful of his hair again, and Harper yelped.

"I'm warning you about that mouth kid," the leader sneered.

"One of the machine shops," Beka spoke up; glaring at Harper once more in the hope he'd stop yanking the bad guys chain.

"Fine, sounds good, take us," the leader gestured to Beka who began to walk, still being held by one of the men as she did. "Don't take your eyes of this one for a minute, Rav," he gestured to the man holding Harper.

Harper found himself yanked up and then forwards, following Beka as they moved the short distance to the closest machine shop. Behind them, out of sight, Dylan and Tyr stepped forward and frowned.

"I want to know what they are planning, Rommie, record everything and keep me posted," Dylan ordered, and then looked at Tyr. "You know this ship as well as I do, I want you to plan a means of taking all three of these men out, the first opportunity we get."

Tyr nodded his head and moved away to plan, leaving Dylan to keep a distant eye on proceedings.

TBC


	15. Chapter 15

Part 15

They were both pushed to the deck, and then ordered to sit against the wall. Beka was forced to put her hands in front of her and found they were duly tied together with cable that had been found in the machine shop. The leader and the other guy, Rav, were now in deep discussions as the third guy moved his attentions to Harper.

"Hands."

Harper wanted to fight, wanted to protest but he was growing tired and his head was hurting. He offered both his arms, one still sporting the cast that was helping to fix his fractured wrist. Already Harper knew the guy was taking too much on an interest in the cast, and showed no surprise when the guy started to undo the clasps keeping it in place.

"Hey, he needs that!" Beka protested, but her words fell on deaf ears.

The cast was soon discarded and Harper's wrists were tightly bounded together, causing Harper to flinch. The guy stood up but stayed close to them to ensure they didn't attempt an escape. Beka glanced at Harper with concern, seeing his eyes closed, but knowing he was still awake.

"Will you quit inviting them to hit you?" Beka hissed.

Harper opened his eyes, blinking them for a few moments before responding. "I hate stupid people, those guys," Harper gestured with a frown. "Are stupid."

"Still not a reason to goad them into hitting you," Beka stressed. "We need a plan."

"We need Dylan, Tyr and Rommie to kick these moron's butts," Harper sneered.

"You really don't like them do you?"

"I thought they were the good guys, I thought we just had to lead them to the party, and I thought they were planning something but I stupidly didn't do anything," Harper grouched. "And yeah, ok, I really don't like that leader guy."

"Harper, are you ok? You seem a little grouchy?" Beka checked.

"Do you blame me, we're fricking hostages!" Harper snapped and then took a deep breath. "Sorry, I just feel so angry," he admitted. "I can't shake it, and my head hurts, I really don't need this," he stressed.

"OK, Harper calm down, deep breaths," Beka advised. "Now is not the time to go shouting the odds, or losing your cool, ok?" Harper nodded his head and took the deep breaths as ordered. "I think your condition is the reason you're mood is a little wired right now, it might be a side effect or something so you have to try and control it, can you do that?"

"I don't know," Harper frowned. "I'll try," he stated whilst still taking deep breaths.

Beka tensed as one of the guys approached them again, and got their attentions. "Can you quit the talking, we're trying to have a discussion over there," he stated.

Harper closed his eyes, and bit his tongue to stop himself from reacting. When he opened them again, he saw the guy was still standing there, just watching them both.

"Is there something else?" Beka asked.

"Been told to keep an eye on you, especially the motor mouth," the guy smirked, gesturing to Harper. "So tell me, Seamus Harper, how did you break your arm?"

"None of your business," Harper responded, avoiding eye contact but before he could react the guy grabbed his tied hands and pulled them up. "What the hell let me go!" Harper snapped, ignoring the pain.

The guy just smiled, and got a firmer grip on Harper's injured wrist adding pressure till Harper felt it, and began to clench his teeth through the pain that was now shooting up his arm from the fractured wrist.

"Leave him alone!" Beka demanded.

The man abruptly let Harper's wrist go and the human collapsed forward holding his arm close to him, protecting it whilst fighting through the pain. Just when they both thought the man had got bored with tormenting Harper, the engineer felt his hair being pulled and straightened up quickly to find he was now being pulled to his feet. Taking short breaths, Harper tried not to show any reaction but couldn't help the grimace as his hair was tugged until he was standing.

"Orth, what are you doing?" Rav asked, looking up from where he stood with the leader.

"This little one has attitude," Orth returned.

"And you don't, come on, get back over here and help us out," Rav demanded.

Orth stared intently at Harper, still holding him firmly by the hair. Harper only came up to his collar bone, and Orth easily towered over him with intimidation.

"Orth, get back here," the leader now spoke up, and Harper hoped the guy would let him go, his scalp felt on fire with the pain of his hold. His anger and frustration rose with being at the mercy of the guy, and he could tell by Orth's body language that he was not so far convinced to let go. With building tension, Harper tired to remain calm but he knew he was barely holding on, he wanted out of the guys hold and he wanted to see them all taken out, one by one, at the hands of the Andromeda crew. So far, however, he couldn't see any signs of that help arriving from the crew, and instead tried not to say something that he might regret later.

"Orth, I'm warning you, get back here now," the leader stated firmly.

"Be a good boy, Orth," Harper sneered, speaking before he'd even realised he had and then felt the full force of a fist connecting with his nose as he fell back sharply only to be picked up again and hit repeatedly. Harper soon lost track of the number of hits he'd received, but he was hurting from blows to the head and stomach. Unable to fight back, with his wrists still tied, Harper felt a sudden helplessness wash other him all over again, and he was mentally back in the conduit remembering Beka's actions. Orth showed no let up in his attack but Harper became aware of voices shouting, as he snapped his focus back to the present, and finally he was able to slump to the floor. Slowly the voices became coherent again, Orth was being shouted at by his own people, and they didn't sound happy, and Harper had to smile through the pain, as his head rolled slightly.

Unsure of how much time had passed, Harper was next aware of hearing water nearby, and someone crouching down beside him.

"You," A voice sounding like Rav was heard, but Harper wasn't sure if he was talking to him, until he heard Beka respond. "Tidy your friend up, we need him, and don't waste time."

"If you needed him you shouldn't have beat him!" Beka was heard to snap and Harper kept the smile on hearing that. "He has brain damage you know, I can't guarantee he'll be fit for anything."

"Fix him, clean him up," Rav simply said and moved away from Harper.

Harper tried moving his head but the floor seemed to drift when he did, so he remained still, a few moments later he heard Beka's voice and knew that she was close. The disorientation suddenly hit him and he instinctively panicked, as his mind flooded once more with images of Beka intimidating him in the conduit and on instinct he scrambled up, pushing himself back. Immediately he screamed out, having put all his weight on his tied hands and remembering his injured wrist but now he felt Beka holding him, her voice soothing him to relax and he was snapped out of the panic, remembering where he was and what had happened, as he took some deep breaths.

Wearily Harper opened his eyes, though they seemed reluctant to open, and saw Beka's face looking concerned for him before feeling water on his face.

"Stay still, Harper," Beka soothed.

Harper was holding his wrist protectively to his chest, and his breathing was returning to normal as Beka continued to clean the blood from his face. Harper found himself remembering Beka's warnings, and with a brief smile of amusement realised that he should have listened.

"What's the smile for?" Beka then enquired and Harper slowly began to laugh.

"What was that you were saying about, you know, annoying these guys?" Harper grinned through the pain.

Beka had to smirk, and fondly shook her head. "Something about stop giving them excuses to hit you," she stated.

"That was it," Harper agreed, and continued to giggle now, partly out of shock and party due to hysteria. "Ow," Harper complained, as Beka began to clean around his nose and mouth.

"He really had a go at you," Beka remarked. "I don't think I've ever seen your face so messed up, so much blood."

"Not since the world ship," Harper remarked.

"I never properly saw you after you returned from the world ship," Beka softly reminded him.

"You didn't?" Harper frowned, and then remembered their earlier discussion, as Beka continued.

"Not in person, it was bad enough what I saw on screen," Beka spoke, more as a distraction as she carefully cleaned the wounds on Harper's face. "This is going to leave a mark," she then sighed.

"You think?" Harper mocked.

"You might need some better patching up work once we're out of this mess," Beka sighed. "Are you sure you're with me?"

"Yeah," Harper answered, knowing why Beka was asking. "Head feels a little shaken, that's all, thankfully it was the goon who hits like a girl who attacked me," he smirked.

"Will you quit that!" Beka snapped. "Stop goading them."

"They didn't hear me," Harper protested with a grin.

"Still, enough with the death wish," Beka stressed. "This may be funny to you, but there was a reason I didn't visit you after the Magog and that still remains," she fussed, as she tried to put a bandage over a deep cut on Harper's hairline.

"Sorry," Harper offered, realising he had overstepped the mark.

"Just don't push, ok?" Beka asked. "Dylan and the others will get us out of this mess, so just sit back and wait."

"Sure thing, boss," Harper agreed, as Beka moved to sit next to him as they both used the bulkhead to lean back against. Harper used Beka's shoulder as a headrest, and she put up no complaint as she put her now free hand around his shoulders. "Beka, could you untie me?"

"Not sure that's wise, the mood these lunatics are in," Beka whispered.

"My wrist really hurts," Harper complained, partly into her shoulder as he got comfortable.

Beka glanced down at his hands, and saw how swollen Harper's wrist had become and she didn't hesitate now to loosen the ties around it, fearing they might cut the circulation.

"Thanks," Harper murmured.

"Hey, don't go to sleep," Beka warned and pushed him gently till his eyes opened again.

"Tired," Harper offered weakly.

"You can't sleep, not with the recent head injuries you've already had, plus it's not wise to sleep after your head has been used as a punch bag," Beka hissed.

Harper took a deep breath, and looked over to where the three men remained in discussion. "Where are the others?"

"I'm sure Dylan is planning something," Beka offered.

"He better be quick, they look like they are closing up their plan," Harper frowned. "And I don't like how they keep looking over to us, I don't want to be involved in any plans they have."

"We might not have a choice," Beka spoke, and almost immediately the three men began to walk over to their position.

"Stand up!" the leader barked.

Beka moved quickly to help Harper to his feet, and they both stood uneasy under the gaze of the leader. The other two had positioned themselves near to their hostages, Orth stood near Harper whilst Rav stayed close to Beka.

"Rav, do it," the leader suddenly ordered and before Beka knew what was happening, she found an injector device clamped to her arm and the pain soon registered as she screamed.

"Beka!" Harper cried out, but Orth soon got a firm grip on him to stop the human coming to Beka's aid. "Beka," Harper fought vainly, but there was little he could do as Beka fell to her knees clutching her arm, where a metallic device was now embedded in her upper arm.

"Seamus Harper," the leader now turned the focus to the engineer. "As you can see we've hurt your lovely friend, she'll recover soon enough but that device is now active."

"What is it?" Harper asked with concern.

"In six hours it will detonate," the leader grinned.

"A bomb?" Harper glanced with anguish towards Beka, who's face registered the shock she felt on hearing the leader's words. "You've attached a bomb to her?" Harper asked with horror.

"It won't go off, so long as you co-operate," the leader now glared at Harper, who in turn couldn't hide the sudden panic he felt. "You will follow my simple orders."

"Don't make me hand this ship over to you," Harper warned.

"Actually, I want you to simply ensure we're not disturbed," the leader shrugged. "You see we don't want the ship, we just want a nova bomb."

"A nova bomb?" Harper checked.

"And we already know how to aim and fire it, so you see, you'll only be needed to ensure your crew mates fail to stop us," the leader grinned.

"They won't let me stop them," Harper stressed.

"Then your friend and probably a nice sized chunk of this ship will explode," the leader flippantly explained. "So you best persuade them to co-operate any way you feel is best, it's not my problem." Harper tensed as he glanced at an equally terrified Beka, still clutching her arm. "Orth will go with you, to ensure you don't tell them about the threat."

"What?" Harper asked.

"I'm feeling vindictive today, I want you to keep them under check but not reveal why, or we'll march your friend to your location and you can all go boom," the leader smiled.

"Then you will too, what's the point?" Harper asked.

"These suits are anti-grav," the leader demonstrated, and Harper noticed that all three were wearing them. "And any explosion caused by the lovely Beka Valentine going off will be localised, and only effect a small area of the ship, so don't worry about us," the leader grinned.

"Why are you doing this?" Harper asked.

"Are you wasting time better spent rounding up your friends?" the leader asked.

"Just tell me!" Harper snapped.

The leader sized Harper up before speaking. "We're going to nova bomb that new settlement, and keep Nann as one."

"There's over a thousand people in that new settlement," Beka stressed.

"Who are not on Nann, and so they are our enemies," the leader simply answered, with no emotion. Reaching for a side arm, the leader threw the weapon to Harper who clumsily caught it, his injured wrist hindering his efforts. "And if you so much as dare point that thing at me, or my colleagues she'll blow," the leader held up the device that was connected to the bomb for Harper to see. "We have eyes everywhere, Seamus Harper, we will know if you betray us."

"Harper, don't do anything stupid," Beka stressed, her voice laced with fear but also determination. "But do what you have to do."

Harper could only nod his head, before looking at the leader. "So am I in charge of rounding up the others, or is Dork?"

"Orth!" Orth snapped.

"Sorry," Harper half grinned. "Orth."

The leader showed some amusement. "You, Seamus Harper, are in charge, so do what you have been ordered to do and your friend will live."

"Whilst thousands die," Harper remarked.

"Harper," Beka caught his eye. "Do what you have to do," she repeated slowly, but Harper just shook his head slowly, knowing what Beka was hinting at but refusing to consider it. His action went unnoticed by the leader, as he quickly left the machine shop with Orth, his gun charged up and ready, telling Orth he needed to pick up some supplies first.

TBC


	16. Chapter 16

Part 16

He heard movement, and Dylan Hunt quickly pressed himself back into the alcove. Slowing his breathing he listened intently, registering two pairs of footsteps approaching. Quietly he prepared his force lance, and was getting ready to attack when Rommie materialised beside him.

"Captain," she spoke in a low voice. "Harper is one of the men approaching."

"What?" Dylan returned.

"I'm not sure what is going on, the machine shop where they have been situated for the past hour has been scrambled from my sensors, but Dylan, Harper is armed and walking side by side with one of the men who took him hostage," Rommie revealed with concern.

"You think?" Dylan couldn't even bring himself to say it, and then didn't have to when he heard the sound of a weapon charging up, followed by Harper's voice.

"Captain Hunt, I may just be a worthless kludge but I can still hear you, so step out where I can see you and drop your force lance," Harper demanded.

Dylan threw Rommie a confused glare, but whilst he wasn't entirely sure of the situation he decided to play ball, at least for the moment. Slowly he stepped out into the corridor and dropped his force lance to the deck, putting his hands up in surrender.

"Good, glad we have an understanding," Harper offered, and Dylan noted that he looked tense, on edge, and he saw the obvious signs of having been beaten, with fresh bruises and cuts about his face. "Kick it towards me," Harper then gestured with his gun to the force lance, and Dylan duly obliged and watched as Harper took the necessary caution in taking his outer shirt off to wrap around the lance, to pick it up safely.

"What's going on?" Dylan asked, his voice lacking any warmth, and he glanced at the intruder with Harper, finding it hard to see if this was some bluff or genuine. Only the marks on Harper's face gave him a clue that Harper was not doing this by choice, but Harper was doing a fine performance that put some doubt into his mind.

"Move," Harper simply ordered. "And keep your hands where I can see them," he added, sounding very much like the one in charge. "Are you the only one roaming the ship?" Harper asked, and it took all of Dylan's strength not to act on instincts, to defend his ship and his memories came flooding back to the acts on board just a few days before, when he did act on those instincts and Harper had felt the full force of them.

"Yes," Dylan lied, knowing Tyr was around somewhere.

"Lies," Harper stressed, and he pushed the nuzzle of his gun into Dylan's back. "You always did underestimate me, I already hacked into Rommie's system and I see the uber is on the loose," Harper stressed, and Dylan heard Harper accessing a handheld. "You'll get a bullet in the back if he tries anything," Harper stated loudly. "You hear that uber?" Harper yelled, as if sensing Tyr was nearby, quietly observing.

The walk to the obs deck was short, and they soon arrived. Harper pushed Dylan the rest of the way in and Dylan saw the shock on Trance's face, but knew Rommie was more than aware of this new development already.

"Orth!" one of the guests spoke up. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Shut up or die!" Orth snapped, stood by Harper's side.

"Listen up all of you," Harper then announced, sounding nothing like the engineer they were use to. "Just do what we say and no one will get hurt, ok?" he stressed, and the final part seemed to be more of a genuine request than a threat.

"Where's Beka?" Dylan had to ask, but with only the briefest of looks, Harper ignored the question, turning away to look beyond the door. For a few minutes both Harper and Orth seemed to be in discussion, and Dylan knew it concerned Tyr, Harper was showing a genuine fear for the Nietzschean being on the loose. With a deep breath, Dylan decided to trust in Harper and turned to Rommie. "Get a message to Tyr," he spoke in barely a whisper. "Tell him to back off of the intruders and to go easy on Harper, I don't think Harper is acting of his own free will, you see those marks on his face."

"Dylan, is it wise to let these intruders continue with their plan?" Rommie asked.

"I don't know, but Harper appears worried, and we don't know where Beka is," Dylan suggested. "I really don't want to screw things up again for Harper," he then gave away his true fears in his expression. "We play along and trust that Harper has a plan."

"Dylan," Rommie frowned, distracted slightly. "Harper has hijacked some of my systems, he has weapons controls but his access is cloaked, should I be concerned?"

Dylan glanced over to Harper, and saw him working on his hand held with Orth looking on, seemingly oblivious to Harper's work. "Just tell Tyr to back off," Dylan stated. "I may be wrong, but I don't think Harper is the threat that he's appearing to be, this time we'll get it right."

"I hope for your sake you're right, Dylan, he's showing all the signs to me of switching sides," Rommie observed. "And given recent events, we should consider that it's not too hard to believe," she considered thoughtfully. "I certainly wouldn't blame him."

Dylan showed some concern to Rommie's words, and glanced at Trance. "Trance?"

"I can't read him, or his intentions, all possible futures are blurred," the golden alien spoke with some doubt in her voice.

"Captain," Rommie spoke with care, seeing her captain was troubled. "If it means anything, not once did he mention revenge after the incident, so I am willing for the moment to believe he is deceiving us, I have informed Tyr of the situation as you read it."

Dylan sighed and looked over to Harper, who was now issuing orders to the intruder, Orth. A few seconds later he left Orth to guard them, and disappeared back into the corridors of the ship.

"He's going for Tyr," Dylan frowned.

"Tyr is waiting for him," Rommie responded. "Though he failed to respond to your orders, I assume he understood the situation."

"Harper against Tyr?" Trance questioned with concern.

"I just don't know," Dylan looked upwards. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"We have another problem," Rommie then frowned. "Harper is pushing himself too hard, his readings are dangerously high and I fear an attack is imminent."

"If he's supposed to be the enemy, how can we help him?" Trance asked with genuine concern.

"I have a really bad feeling about this," Dylan closed his eyes, hoping to find a solution quickly.

* * *

Harper had walked a fair distance from the obs deck and then leaned against the bulkhead before taking some deep breaths, closing his eyes momentarily to try and focus. He was unable to believe what he was doing, but what frightened him more was how easily he had slipped into the role of an intruder, and he was almost relishing the opportunity of role reversal as much as it scared him. He knew Dylan was taking it easy on him, possibly suspecting there was a good reason for his supposed betrayal but Harper knew he couldn't afford to let his guard down, knowing Beka's life was at stake.

"Harper?" Rommie materialised as a hologram beside him.

Immediately Harper pushed himself away from the bulkhead; he couldn't talk to Rommie not now and so he ignored her.

"Harper, your need to be cautious, your readings are concerning," Rommie spoke after him, and then appeared ahead of him.

"Rommie!" Harper stressed and turned around with frustration, and then stopped to gather his senses, turning slowly to acknowledge her. "I'm kind of busy right now taking over the ship, do you mind?" he stated through gritted teeth.

Rommie remained unmoved, as she stood before him. "You are still a member of my crew and I will continue to observe your health," Rommie answered.

"Fine, just quit bugging me," he moved through her and continued walking, thankful that she seemed to get the message and disappeared. Then on instinct Harper charged his gun and aimed, feeling his body tense on spotting Tyr ahead of him. "Stop where you are, and don't move!" Harper ordered.

"Your heart is racing, you're perspiring heavily, your senses are a mess by all observations yet you feel you can threaten me?" Tyr asked calmly, as he approached. "If I am to believe that on this occasion you are actually an intruder, then like before I will act to defend myself, and this ship," Tyr drew his weapon and powered it up.

"Stand the hell still, Tyr, and drop that weapon!" Harper demanded, and all signs of tension and shaking seemed to slowly leave him, as he stood straighter poised to fire, completely focused.

With curiosity, Tyr stopped and observed Harper, with his gun steady and still aimed at Harper. "So am I to understand that I am not drugged, and that you are actually trying to take over this ship?" Tyr asked. "I just want to be clear so when I shoot you down again, Beka Valentine will not cross examine my decision again to harm you in the name of defending this vessel."

"Shut up!" Harper snapped. "I'll shoot, so drop your weapon and move up against the bulkhead, hands where I can see them!" Harper ordered, with his expression dark and unlike anything Tyr had seen from the human before.

Tyr remained calm, and refused to follow Harper's orders. "I will not be treated as a prisoner by you, boy."

Harper sized up the situation as they both stood just a few metres apart with their guns aimed, and his eyes never leaving the defiant stare of Tyr's as he considered his options. "Don't make me force you, Tyr," Harper then stated, his voice softer, but his gun still aimed at the Nietzschean.

"I'm almost intrigued to discover how you would," Tyr returned, slightly amused by the prospect and completely focused on his target.

"You know something, sometimes, just sometimes, Tyr, you can be a total dumb ass," Harper stressed angrily. "Tell me, uber," he emphasised. "Tell me in your own arrogant smart ass words how you think I survived Earth," Harper demanded, as his finger toyed with the trigger of his gauss gun.

"I give it no thought, it doesn't concern or even interest me, boy," Tyr goaded, as slowly they began circling, neither man relinquishing their advantage.

"Let me show you," Harper glared at the Nietzschean, and then swiftly moved one hand to the neck of his tee shirt, pulling at a thin thread previously unnoticed around his neck. "I never gave mine up, not ever, this thing saved my life more times than you can imagine," Harper showed Tyr a small metallic device attached to the thread that he now had in his hand, one of the supplies he had picked up after being ordered to betray his friends for Beka's sake.

Tyr narrowed his eyes observing the metallic device as Harper, with his gun still raised, brought the small device to his lips. It was a whistle of some kind Tyr considered just before Harper blew hard into it, and Tyr instantly dropped his weapon falling to his knees paralysed by the close proximity of the painful sound, as his hands clutched at his ears. Feeling a hefty hit to the back of his neck from the butt of a weapon, Tyr was momentarily powerless to act as Harper stood over him still making the intolerable noise. Finding himself flat out and face down on the deck when the sound finally ended, merely thirty seconds later, to his horror he found that Harper had secured his hands tightly and with ease, behind his back.

"I did warn you, uber," Harper stressed coldly, sounding nothing like the boy Tyr had known, as the Nietzschean tested the restraints to try and free his arms. "I know your weaknesses, I know how to tie a good knot, it's all I've ever needed to know," he stated. "Now get the hell up and start walking," Harper ordered bluntly.

Harper could only watching without assisting, as Tyr struggled to push himself up but eventually managed it, and Harper had to inwardly calm himself down as the Nietzschean began to walk ahead of him. Harper hated this, too many bad memories and times were being remembered, and there were no feelings of joy in his minor victory, Tyr was still a friend of sorts, and too much was at stake. Harper wanted to end it, to just help Beka, and not the terrorists, but his mind had so far failed to find a solution.

On reaching the Obs Deck Harper pushed the Nietzschean forward, and then instinctively jumped back when Tyr swung around in an attempt to hit him, only succeeding in catching his injured wrist causing Harper to cry out in pain. In immediate retaliation Harper used the butt of his gun again, this time across Tyr's head, sending the Nietzschean stumbling back to the deck. "Do that again and I'll fricking shoot you where you stand! You hear me!" Harper snapped; his mood no longer willing to play games. Tyr glared at him, looking ready to kill but Harper stood his ground until Dylan moved Tyr aside, and out of harms way.

Harper glared at the prisoners, his friends, and then he rubbed his head with his good hand before moving to where Orth stood. "Ok, that's all of them," Harper spoke calming down only slightly, as he sat down against the bulkhead and held his injured arm protectively. "We have them contained, so free Beka."

"Not until the job is done," Orth relayed.

"You mean the mass murder? Destroying a whole planet for fun?" Harper sneered, and rubbed his forehead, his headache had come back strong. "So what do we do now, just sit here?" Harper wearily asked.

"Yeah, we keep an eye on these guys," Orth gestured to the prisoners.

"I want to see that Beka is ok," Harper stressed.

"She's on feed twenty-nine," Orth answered, and gestured to Harper's hand held. "So how'd you capture the Nietzschean?"

"I read him poetry, it's their weakness," Harper flippantly returned and he brought up the feed on his view screen. "She's in the slip stream core?" he questioned.

"She's packing a lot of stuff, we don't want it near to where we're working, and two birds with one stone, she'll take out the slip stream core when she goes," Orth declared.

"When? Don't you mean, if?" Harper corrected. Orth just shrugged, and Harper got to his feet with fresh concern. "It doesn't matter what I do, does it? You plan to kill her regardless!" Harper realised and suddenly retrieved the jack cable from his pocket, glad that he had taken the opportunity to collect supplies. Without a second thought he jacked in, and hurtled into the depths of the Andromeda's systems.

Orth was too slow to stop him and immediately lunged at Harper's prone body, but before he could touch the jack, Dylan and Tyr were on him and pulling him away, and in seconds they had rendered Orth unconscious.

"What is going on?" Tyr asked, now free of his binds but still angered by developments as he glared at Harper, still slumped against the bulkhead.

"I don't know," Dylan admitted and seconds later Harper snapped back to reality and quickly moved to sit up. Grabbing his weapon he fired it up and aimed. Both Dylan and Tyr dropped to the deck, as Harper fired high at a panel across from them, and it sparked and died, killing any live feed of the room.

Almost as soon as the firing stopped Tyr pushed himself up and then grabbed Harper roughly by his shirt, pulling him forward towards him. Nose to nose now, Tyr ignored Dylan's attempts to dislodge his hold from Harper as he glared at the human with intent.

"I am not beyond shooting you again if I so much as suspect that you are attempting to betray us," Tyr stated firmly.

"Tyr!" Dylan snapped, and attempted to free Harper from the Nietzschean's grip.

Harper looked terrified and could barely breathe with the grip Tyr had on his shirt that was now caught up around his neck. "Tyr," Harper gasped in barely a whisper, before taking needed breaths. "Beka's life is in danger," he simply stressed quietly and then felt himself being pushed roughly back into the bulkhead.

Harper quickly recovered and then focused, looking at Dylan. "I can't block the signal," he stressed without explanation, and with renewed panic. "You have to stop them, take these weapons, go, and whatever you do just stop them activating the little black transmitter!" Harper stressed as he got to his feet. "I have to find Beka, she's not with them so it's safe, they are alone," he added. "And don't worry, I put the ship into training mode ages ago," he gestured to his handheld. "The planet is safe from their real plan, but Beka's in danger, so go!" Harper yelled, before rushing off.

Dylan and Tyr looked at each other, and then checked their weapons before hurrying towards the intruder's location.

TBC


	17. Chapter 17

Part 17

Harper had long forgotten about the need to catch his breath, as he sprinted into the slipstream core and staggered up the steps to the gantry that ran across it.

"Beka!" Harper gasped, showing both relief and fear at seeing her.

"Harper! What are you doing here?" Beka demanded from her position sat on the floor with her arms tied behind her, secured to the railings.

"Saving you," Harper stressed, between heavy breaths. "Or rather, I don't know," he suddenly flustered, seeing the device attached to Beka's arm, there was nothing he could do to remove it, as it was firmly embedded and probably filled with little fail safes to ensure it wasn't easily removed without taking something, or one with it. Beka seemed to be able to tell he was struggling now, he knew he must look tired and drawn, and that he knew there was nothing he could do to save her. He felt strangely calm, as if knowing this could be the end. He knew something was wrong, and his gut knew it was bad but it felt right and reassuring to be with Beka for this. "I'm not leaving; I have to be here," Harper whispered. "Together till the end, right?" Harper stated, looking at Beka like old times, as a genuine smile appeared.

"Harper, get out of here," Beka stressed, knowing if he was there, then her fate was sealed. "Please, don't make me take you with me, please, the Maru needs you," she attempted to reason.

Harper just shook his head, almost smirking at her attempt to get him to leave. "You need me," he stated and moved closer to where she was secured to the gantry railings.

"Seamus, please go, leave me," Beka pleaded now, but Harper just moved closer and lowered himself down next to her, before slowly wrapping his arms around her. Beka felt desperate, knowing it could all end so soon, and feeling for Harper, wishing he would just leave.

"Not leaving," Harper murmured into her shoulder, as he settled beside her.

Beka rested her head on his, and took comfort from his gesture as she smiled, and her fears of losing Harper's trust and friendship with her earlier actions rapidly dissolved. "You're a fool to have forgiven me, Seamus," Beka whispered. "I don't deserve any of this; you should have made me die alone for what I did to you."

"That wasn't you," Harper responded tiredly.

Beka closed her eyes, unable to believe that this was it and she waited for the inevitable. "Thanks," Beka then spoke. "For everything, for being a friend, for being here, I don't think I," Beka paused, unable to continue as her emotion threatened wishing for all the universe for the chance to wrap her arms around Harper in the same way he was clinging to her, but they remained tied behind her.

"Beka?"

Beka's attention snapped to the hologram projection of Rommie that materialised. "Rommie, what's going on?"

"The intruders have been easily secured, and all my sensors are free of the jamming device in this area. The intruders surrendered the moment Tyr and Dylan showed up and they were unsuccessful in their task thanks to the efforts of Harper, despite the risks," Rommie informed her. "I have requested medical assistance, Trance is on her way."

"It's over?" Beka showed joy and relief immediately. "Seamus, you hear that? It's over, I'm not going to blow up!" she exclaimed, and then paused looking at Rommie. "Medical assistance?" she questioned.

"For Harper," Rommie simply said.

Beka froze, and glanced down at Harper; still holding onto her but she was unable to see his face. "Harper?" she tried to get a response.

"Please, wait for Trance," Rommie calmly spoke just as Trance, followed by the avatar Rommie, hurried into the slipstream core.

"Beka," Trance greeted but she was distracted by Harper, as she moved to their position and then gently brought Harper away from Beka, and carefully laid his unconscious body onto the deck plating. "How long has he been unconscious?"

Beka was dumbfounded, but soon gathered her wits. "No more than a few minutes, we were talking," Beka answered.

Trance checked Harper's vitals and then gestured to Rommie to bring the trolley they had acquired closer to the steps. Trance continued to work on Harper, as Rommie turned to Beka and began to untie her from the railings. "He's ok for now," Rommie informed her.

"He was fine when he got here, and that was just a few minutes ago; he was fine!" Beka fussed and moved to Harper's side, as Trance and Rommie carefully moved Harper the short distance onto the trolley and then began to push him at pace towards Med Deck. "He wouldn't leave me, he thought we were going to die together," she stressed with some shock at developments. "What's happened?" she asked with despair.

"He's suffered a seizure," Trance calmly explained. "The worst kind."

"But I felt and saw nothing, Trance, he just went quiet," Beka explained.

Trance took a deep breath, and Beka knew it was bad by the body language her friend now displayed. "His body has completely shut down in a surprisingly short space of time, and that is not good," Trance paused, finding it hard to explain. "Beka, he's in a coma, and to all extent and purposes he's still having the seizure, and we can only hope he can recover from this," she offered sadly.

"No," Beka whispered, looking at Harper and now noticing minor almost unseen ticks and movement in his body.

"This is the most dangerous type of seizure for the condition he has, and we don't know how long it could last, or if the seizure will end," Trance lowered her eyes. "This type of seizure is the one that causes the most fatalities with his condition."

"If he dies then I will be the one who killed him," Beka spoke quietly, suddenly feeling helpless. "I want those Nann terrorists to pay for this, it's their fault! They pushed him too far!" Beka stressed now, her anger seeping through. "They made him do it, they used me to get to Harper and I won't rest until they pay!"

"Beka, let Dylan and the council deal with the intruders," Trance suggested calmly. "Harper needs you, so please don't do anything stupid."

Trance's words had the desired effect and Beka's hard features immediately softened. "He has to wake up," she simply stated, her concern clear.

"I'll do everything I can to ensure he does," Trance smiled warmly, as they reached Med Deck.

* * *

Dylan took a deep breath before he began, observing those gathered before him seated at the table.

"I won't keep any of you long," Dylan began, glancing at Trance and Beka in particular. "I just wanted to have you all here to update you on the Commonwealth's decision regarding Nann, and our would-be intruders," he stated with care. "The breakaway group have decided not to pursue action against their neighbours in return for an agreement for peace," Dylan looked at Beka. "And in a show of good will, the Commonwealth have decided to drop all charges against the would-be terrorists, to ease tensions."

"What?" Beka sat forward.

Tyr frowned. "That must be a huge sweep the Commonwealth have for their carpet."

"Harper has been in a coma, fighting for his life for nearly five days and they decide to show a gesture of good will to the men who put him there?" Beka demanded. "And you agreed?" she asked Dylan.

"I had little choice, the vote was unanimous," Dylan sighed. "Harper saved many lives at the risk of his own in the name of peace, and that has been noted on the official records, those against the terrorist actions of Nann are celebrating his efforts."

Beka looked down at the desk, clearly unhappy. "And if he dies what then? They'll make him a martyr, a saint?" she sniped. "None of this makes me feel any better, Dylan."

"We should focus on what we can do for Harper, not what we can do to avenge what happened," Trance quietly advised.

"The boy knew of his condition, and he showed bravery to do what he did to save those people," Tyr spoke up. "You discredit his actions by refusing to accept the decision."

Beka looked at Tyr, and her expression softened. "What? He over powers you, so now you show him respect?"

"Beka!" Dylan snapped, before Tyr could respond.

"I need to be elsewhere," Beka decided, and moved to stand up.

"This isn't your fault," Dylan simply spoke before Beka left the meeting. "It was an accident, and you have to accept this."

Beka took her time before answering. "I accept full responsibility for Harper's condition, but I can not accept that he will die because of it!"

"Beka, he is getting stronger each day," Trance encouraged. "His life signs are improving with each hour," she smiled. "If they continue to show improvement he could wake up very soon."

"He'll still have the brain damage, he'll still be at risk," Beka stated, still standing. "And I would still be the one who did that to him."

"Beka, Harper needs you to be strong," Trance stressed. "You have to move on, so you can be there for him."

Beka's hand went to her arm, where a bandage was still aiding the repair after Trance had successfully removed the explosive device that had been attached. "He was going to die with me," she spoke with confusion. "But I don't know if it was for friendship or for release from what I had done to him."

Dylan stood up now and moved to Beka's side, and pulled her into a comforting embrace. "Harper didn't want you to be alone, Beka, of that I have no doubt," he soothed. "Your life was at risk and he did everything in his power to try and save you, even stood up to Tyr," Dylan smiled.

"If he truly wanted to die, and seek that release you talk of, he wouldn't have so successfully disabled me, so I couldn't shoot him and kill him myself," Tyr supported.

"Beka, you should get some rest, you need to look after yourself for when Harper wakes up," Trance suggested softly. "I will stop by and bring something to help you sleep."

"I'll walk you to your quarters," Dylan suggested. "Meeting adjourned," he spoke over his shoulder as Beka quietly followed his lead, as they left the room.

"What you said about Harper was appreciated," Trance looked at Tyr, once Beka had left with Dylan.

"It was the truth," Tyr spoke, as he got to his feet.

"How did Harper disable you?" Trance asked.

"No doubt you have all seen the security playback," Tyr showed a lack of amusement.

"No, none of us have, and Rommie has no recollection of the incident ever taking place," Trance answered, and Tyr looked at her with confusion. "All recordings in that area of the ship were authorised by Harper to be erased, just a few minutes after he brought you to the obs deck."

"Why would he destroy the proof, evidence that he had overpowered me?" Tyr asked.

"Maybe he wasn't proud of his actions," Trance suggested. "Maybe he wanted no one else on this crew to see what he is truly capable off, when he puts his mind to it."

Tyr looked at Trance with a realisation in his eyes. "We have every right to be weary of Harper's capabilities, further justifying our instincts were correct when we were influenced by that gas," Tyr revealed.

Trance frowned. "Do any of us know Harper's true identity?"

"The ease in which he captured me," Tyr remembered, a little saddened that he wouldn't have the opportunity to review Harper's actions. "It was not the first time he had captured a Nietzshcean, that much was clear, but I'm guessing I'm the first one to live to tell the tale."

"You're his friend, and he never forgot that," Trance agreed. "Regardless of what happened before, he spared you like you spared him."

"So he destroyed the next best thing to his actions, the evidence," Tyr concluded.

"Leaving you to maybe claim it was all a hoax, a concocted plan between the two of you to make Harper appear in control," Trance suggested. "Do you think people would believe it?"

"More than they would believe that Harper could overpower me," Tyr offered, and Trance only smiled before leaving Tyr alone with his thoughts.

TBC


	18. Chapter 18

Part 18

For nearly an hour they had been watching him, hearing every beep from the machine and just waiting for that first sign. Trance glanced at Beka, and saw the desperate hope in her expression, her eyes never leaving Harper. It had been nearly a week now since Harper had fallen into the coma and in the past three days his readings had been getting more encouraging up until an hour ago when Trance decided to wake Beka and inform her that Harper was close to regaining consciousness. It was four am in the morning, but Beka didn't even appear to notice having arrived just a few minutes after Trance had woken her.

Trance looked up as the doors to Med Deck opened and a tired Dylan Hunt walked in, still adjusting his shirt. He glanced at Harper, seeing he was still unconscious before acknowledging Trance.

"How's he doing?" he quietly asked.

"Very well, all signs indicate that he will be awake soon," Trance responded, her voice matching the captain's quiet tones, they both seemed aware of Beka with them and not wishing to disturb her.

"Any idea if he's going to be ok, after this?" Dylan cautiously asked, with his eyes now on Beka.

Trance considered her response. "His brain is already damaged, and I can't say for sure if it's been further damaged as a result of this," Trance attempted. "There are no obvious signs of further complications."

"That's something," Dylan spoke with some relief. "Let's hope this is the end of it."

"Unless he has that operation this will not be the end of it," Trance frowned.

"Trance, you know as well as I that Harper will never agree to that operation," Dylan stated.

"There is something else that I am more concerned about," Trance ventured.

"Tell me."

"Harper's fractured wrist, that was also dislocated," Trance sighed. "I fear it is not healing, and additional damage he has received since I attempted to fix the damage has not helped. The intruders took the cast off, so Beka informed me, and it was completely unsupported when he took both you and Tyr hostage."

"Tyr kicked his wrist, I remember," Dylan noted, and Trance just nodded her head remembering the moment.

"The joint is badly damaged, and the tendons that would normally support the wrist are severely torn or snapped," Trance frowned, and took a deep breath. "It'll require further surgery, until then I will have to lock his wrist in a permanent cast and this could delay his return to light duties."

"It's never going to end," Dylan looked at the deck.

"Harper?"

Both Dylan and Trance moved forward on hearing Beka call the engineer's name, and they saw that Harper was moving. Trance hurried to his side and checked his readings, then smiled. "Keep talking, Beka, he's waking up," Trance encouraged.

"Seamus," Beka stated, and held his good hand. "Come on, time to wake up, I have Sparky."

"Sparky?" Harper murmured true to form, and Beka couldn't help but laugh, as she glanced with joy at Dylan.

"Come on, you have to open those eyes, Harper," Beka stressed and moments later, Harper wearily opened his eyes, and squinted slightly in the light.

"Hey," Harper acknowledged Beka. "What's going on?" he asked, as his head fell to the side and he saw the various machines around him, and his own arm and upper body attached to them by tubes and patches. "Bad?" he questioned.

"It's ok, just focus on waking up and we'll explain everything," Beka soothed, as she stroked his hand.

Harper took a deep breath and blinked his eyes a few time, looking drained of all energy. "You didn't explode," he then noted, looking at Beka as if for the first time.

"You saved me, and all of us, again," Beka smiled warmly.

"I don't remember," Harper offered.

"You don't have to, just concentrate on now," Trance spoke up, as she came into his view.

"Trance," Harper smiled. "You look tired," he then remarked.

"Not as tired as you," Trance returned with a smile. "Let me make you a little more comfortable," she suggested and began the process of disconnecting the machines from around Harper.

Beka used the opportunity to move closer to Harper's side, and brushed his hair away from his face with care. "You are going to get better, Seamus Harper and no more heroics, ok?"

Harper showed confusion to her orders before slowly nodding his head to agree. "Have the guests left yet?" Harper then asked.

Dylan moved forward. "The guests have left," he confirmed.

"Dylan," Harper finally noticed the captain. "Did they sign?"

Dylan could only smirk, as he glanced at Beka who didn't share his amusement. "They signed, but it became complicated, it's all sorted now and partly with thanks to you," he recognised.

"Me?" Harper checked unsure. "So I'm not on Med Deck because I fancied a change of scenery from my quarters?" he asked.

"You pushed yourself too far, used your port, monitors, hand helds," Beka reeled off. "Not to mention goading men to hit you."

Harper looked away for a moment. "I don't remember."

"You had a pretty bad reaction, an ongoing seizure that lasted nearly fourteen hours, and put you in a coma," Trance then finished for Beka. "One of those seizures I warned you about, the ones that risk your life."

"I nearly died?" Harper frowned.

"You've survived and there's no reason why you should ever have to put yourself in that position again," Dylan offered with some optimism.

Harper smirked, showing indifference in his expression. "I can't think of any other times I'll need to access the systems in an emergency, with no second thoughts for my own health," he mocked.

There was silence now, everybody knowing that Harper was right and that it was his job to do what he had done, and it wouldn't be the last time he'd be put in that position.

"We'll work around this, Harper, we'll make it work for you," Dylan simply said, as encouragement.

"We should let Harper get some rest," Trance then suggested.

"Why can't I feel my hand?" Harper then asked; bringing the useless limb up so he could see the fixed cast in was in.

Trance moved closer to him. "Your hand is numb?" she asked, showing surprise.

"Can't move or feel it," Harper offered.

"You have damaged the wrist joint so your ability to move your hand is an issue I'm looking into, but you should have feeling," Trance checked her readings, as she scanned his damaged arm. Both Dylan and Beka shared concerned glances before Trance put her scanner down and looked at Harper. "I don't know why I missed this but it seems the tendon damage is worse than I thought, you have lost all feeling in your hand as a result, but I'm sure we can fix that, it just might take some time."

"It's ok, I'm not going anywhere," Harper remarked.

"Get some rest, and that goes for all of you," Trance advised everyone. "It'll take you a day or so to completely recover from the effects of the coma, so ensure you get as much rest as you can," Trance stated to Harper.

Harper didn't seem to need much encouragement to close his eyes again, and he drifted back to sleep. After a few words of encouragement from Trance, Dylan led Beka out of med deck, to return to sleep till their shifts started.

* * *

Beka stopped as she entered the mess deck, and stared at the lone occupant. Her features softened as she approached, and took the seat opposite. Seamus Harper continued to pick at his food, as Beka looked on before finally saying something.

"Trance is worried about you," Beka spoke softly.

Harper didn't react, continuing to pick at his food but only consuming small pieces, his expression gave nothing away.

"Harper, speak to me," Beka requested.

Harper looked up at Beka, and his eyes seemed to be searching hers for something. "What do you want me to say?"

"Anything, Seamus, just tell us what is going on in there," Beka gestured to his head.

"I don't know," Harper offered with a shrug, and put the fork he'd been using to push his food around down.

"You're not talking to Trance, Rommie or to Dylan, and you're barely talking to me," Beka stressed. "That's not good."

"Been thinking, that's all," Harper returned.

"About what?"

"Everything," Harper offered.

"Everything being?" Beka prompted.

"Everything," Harper frowned, without adding any more to his answer.

Beka looked down and attempted to remain calm, knowing she couldn't appear to lose it with Harper. "I've never seen you like this," Beka responded finally.

"Last time I felt like this was after I was infested," Harper shrugged.

Beka looked away. "When I avoided you," she realised.

"I nearly killed myself," Harper spoke without emotion.

"What?" Beka looked at him sharply.

"Rommie stopped me, made me realise I still had everything to live for," Harper remembered with a sigh.

"You nearly killed yourself?" Beka repeated slowly. "Why wasn't I told?"

"Didn't seem a big deal at the time," Harper dismissed.

"Not a big deal?" Beka stressed. "Harper, you can never think about stuff like that, and it is a big deal."

"What have I got to live for now?" Harper then asked, with his stare burning into Beka's shocked expression.

"You have plenty to live for!" Beka returned abruptly.

Harper looked away with a smirk. "Right," he simply said.

"Harper, why are you doing this to yourself?" Beka asked.

Harper took a deep breath and then looked at Beka with care. "I'm going to have that operation," he announced.

"What?"

"To fix my condition, I'm going to have it."

"But," Beka stammered, before Harper interrupted her.

"My mind is made up," Harper got to his feet. "It's for the best."

"Harper, wait a minute," Beka reached out and stopped him leaving. "Are you sure this is what you want to do?"

"I've thought of nothing else, Beka, ever since I woke up its all I've thought about," he stressed. "What happened, it was enough to make me realise that I can't live like that, I can't be afraid of the thing I love, I can't work knowing I risk that each time."

"So what will you do, once you've had the operation?" Beka asked fearful of the answer.

Harper hesitated and then shrugged. "I won't be able to stay here; I won't be able to do my job."

"You can't leave, we won't let that happen, Harper, we did this to you, I did this to you I wouldn't be able to just let you leave," Beka stressed.

"I'm not a prisoner here, and I'm not a kid," Harper stated firmly. "I'll get by, so don't make this harder for me."

"I'm not trying to, Seamus, but there has to be another way," Beka offered.

"My brain is damaged and I've lost the use of my right hand, I'm right-handed, Beka so tell me how there can be another way?" Harper's voice was sterner now as he demanded an answer but Beka had nothing. "I can't do this anymore, Beka, that's all I do know and I need to move on, not only for my own benefit but for this crew's as well, and the sooner the better."

"But Seamus," Beka kept hold of him. "I don't want to lose you."

"You've already lost me, Beka, and I can't keep pretending what happened didn't happen, you lost me back in that conduit. I just didn't have the guts to tell you before, I wanted to forgive and forget because it was easier but now, I can't do that anymore," Harper simply said as he removed himself from Beka's hold and left the mess deck.

Beka brought her hand up to her face, trying to conceal her emotions and feeling like the universe had just come crashing down around her.

TBC


	19. Chapter 19

Part 19

Harper wanted to find a quiet dark place, needing to get away from what he had just done. He couldn't believe he had said those words to Beka, it wasn't what he felt but he needed her to feel some of his pain, but he didn't know why. With confusion, Harper kept walking with no intention of stopping until he heard a voice behind him.

"You have been avoiding me."

Harper stopped walking, but didn't turn around. "Tyr, I don't need this," Harper stressed.

"We can talk now, or later, but we will talk so why not get it over with now?" Tyr asked, walking around Harper until he faced him.

Harper looked at the Nietzschean, but couldn't determine the uber's mood. "What do you want?" he simply asked.

"Why did you do it?"

"Do what?"

Tyr looked at him closely. "Erase those recordings?"

"You know I somehow thought you wouldn't want to discuss me kicking your ass," Harper cockily responded, and then made to move past Tyr but the Nietzschean stopped him. Without a second thought Harper reached for the string around his neck and showed Tyr the whistle, almost as a threat. "Don't ok, just don't."

"I'm not the enemy," Tyr responded calmly.

"And I don't want to talk," Harper returned sharply.

"You still wear that whistle, do you fear me?"

"Fear you?" Harper repeated and then looked away with disbelief. "Your people killed my family, destroy my home and you ask if I fear you?" he questioned. "I don't fear you Tyr, I hate you, and I hate everything about you and your people!"

Tyr reached up and grabbed Harper by the throat pushing him back into the bulkhead, getting his attention. "And I have told you many times that I am not Drago Kazov, and I will not be insulted by the likes of you comparing me to them!" Tyr stressed, but Harper only stared coldly back at him. "I thought you knew me, I thought you were intelligent and could tell the difference, but obviously I misjudged you."

Harper crumpled to the floor, as Tyr let him go and simply stood over him. Controlling his breathing, and struggling with his emotions Harper did nothing, and remained still, crouched on the deck using the bulkhead to support him and avoiding the questioning gaze of Tyr.

Tyr lowered himself until he could look Harper in the eye. "Don't be afraid of what you are capable of if you put your mind to it."

The human's ice blue eyes met with Tyr's, they were panicked and wide as he just stared at the Nietzschean until he shakily spoke. "I don't want to be that person again, but what else do I have now?" he asked, his voice trembling.

"Erasing those recordings won't make that part of you disappear," Tyr stressed. "And allowing hate to control your mind is not the answer."

"I can't make it stop, all the time since I got back I just feel like I'm losing control," Harper stammered, giving away his fears. "I can't control it, I can't control my emotions."

Tyr put a strong firm hand on Harper's shoulder. "I believe you can, your brain may be damaged but you have a strong mind, and stronger will power."

Harper composed himself a little taking a deep breath, as he adjusted his position so he was sitting crossed legged on the deck with his back against the bulkhead. Tyr remained in front of him, crouched down as the engineer began to talk with more control. "I'm going to have that operation, to fix the damage to my brain."

"It won't fix it, it will simply complete the job and make that part of your brain dead," Tyr corrected.

"Whatever, I'm going to get it done," Harper returned, avoiding eye contact with the Nietzschean. "Get this port removed as well," he added, and then noticed Tyr was just staring at him. "What?"

"Do you want me to stop you, or to tell you that you can't?" Tyr asked calmly.

"No," Harper snapped. "I'm just telling you what I'm going to do."

"You're prepared to compromise your skills, your natural born talents, for what?" Tyr asked.

"For the chance of a life without fear of the one thing I love," Harper returned.

"Fear is a part of life."

"Don't give me any crap lectures about love and life, Tyr," Harper dismissed.

"Should I give up too?"

"What?" Harper asked with annoyance.

"I got beaten by a kludge from Earth, the ultimate humiliation for my kind," Tyr recounted flippantly. "Should I find a corner to cry in, and give up?"

"That is so not the same, Tyr," Harper stressed. "We're talking about my life, and me being able to live it without risking it by simply doing my job!"

"If I were in a pride, or if I did one day choose to lead my people, do you think I could actually do that now?" Tyr asked. "Your actions have made it impossible for me to fulfil my ambitions, possibly by destiny."

Harper stared at Tyr. "There's no evidence that I did anything to you, Tyr, so nothing is stopping you."

"Is that why you erased those recordings?"

"Didn't I tell you I knew your weaknesses?"

"And I know yours, its accepting defeat all too easily," Tyr returned.

"I'm facing facts," Harper frowned. "Being realistic."

"Ignoring the real problems," Tyr stressed.

"Which are?" Harper challenged.

"That you're in no fit state of mind to be making decisions that will affect your life, and I will not idly stand by and let you do that," Tyr answered.

"I'm touched," Harper mocked.

"I'm serious," Tyr offered. "I will not let anyone further damage your brain under the thin guise of a better life," he stated. "And if you were of sound mind you would realise that you will never have a better life than the one you have now."

"How are you going to stop me?" Harper asked, and his eyes narrowed. "And why the hell do you care, huh, uber?" he snapped.

Tyr took his good hand, and opened it so Harper's palm faced upwards. With care he placed a small disk in the engineer's hand. "This is my thanks, for erasing that recording and making it possible for me to continue my life," Tyr declared.

Harper stared at the disk, hearing the words and trying to take them in. "Is this supposed to silence me, what is this?"

"Another way."

Harper watched as Tyr said no more and rising to his full height, before walking away, leaving Harper to stare at the disk in his hand.

"Mr Harper?"

Harper looked up on hearing Dylan's voice and quickly scrambled to his feet, whilst pocketing the disk and trying to appear casual. "Boss, captain, Dylan, I was just," Harper struggled to think of a cover for what he was doing.

"Andromeda was concerned, said you were in a heated discussion with Tyr?" Dylan prompted. "Are you ok?"

"Tyr, yeah, no, I mean I'm fine," Harper stammered, feeling the pressure of Dylan's attentions.

"I've just seen Beka," Dylan then offered.

"Is she ok?" Harper was quick to ask, remembering their exchange.

"She's talking about leaving for a few days, on the Maru."

"Did you let her?" Harper asked with concern.

"Yes," Dylan answered, and seemed to be fascinated by Harper's reaction.

"Don't. Dylan, make sure she doesn't leave," Harper stressed with fear.

"What did you say to her that upset her so much?" Dylan then asked.

Harper instinctively began to back away, avoiding Dylan's questioning glare. Closing his eyes he suddenly felt like the entire ship was closing in around him, suffocating him. Harper could vaguely hear the concerned tones of his captain through the disorientation he now felt, before feeling himself fall, and then someone around him as he was gently lowered to the deck.

"Harper, stay with me, fight this," Dylan's voice encouraged and Harper pulled himself back to be able to open his eyes, between heavy breaths.

"Boss," Harper murmured, struggling to fight the fit his body was trying to inflict on him. "Make sure Beka doesn't leave," he stressed before the fit began to take hold, and Dylan could only give Harper the room needed to safely play it out, as his body went into uncontrolled spasms on the deck.

"Andromeda, inform Beka about Harper, and make sure she doesn't leave," Dylan ordered, as he continued to watch over Harper. "Come on, Harper, snap out of it anytime soon," he encouraged, fearful of not knowing how long this fit could last. "I order you to stop," Dylan spoke feeling hopeless as he could only watch the young man in front of him suffer a fit he had no control over. Each twist and turn on the deck that Harper suffered Dylan felt, as his mind flashed back to those mad couple of hours when the crew turned on Harper, and he could only wonder how things had reached this point, as Harper continued to spasm out of control.

Harper suddenly grimaced, and his body tensed before finally relaxing. After a few moments he wearily opened his eyes, and saw Dylan was stood over him as he lay on the deck. "Another fit?" Harper asked, already knowing the answer before Dylan nodded his head. "How long?"

"Just a couple of minutes this time," Dylan assured him. "But felt a lot longer," the captain added with fear in his voice.

Taking some needed breaths to calm down, Harper took his time before he made to get up. Dylan helped him to his feet and ensured he had his balanced before letting Harper go.

"Are you ok?" Dylan checked.

"Little shaky," Harper admitted quietly, still composing himself as he tried to find his balance and senses.

There was movement ahead before Harper saw Beka rush into view. "Harper?" she flustered.

"I'm ok," Harper offered, but looking pale enough for Beka not to believe him.

"It wasn't a long attack," Dylan added, as Beka moved closer.

"What brought it on? You haven't been near any machines since you woke up have you?" Beka checked, as she took hold of Harper's upper arms, visually checking he was ok.

"No," Harper frowned. "I don't know, I think I let a few things get on top of me, I felt like I was going to explode," he admitted with fear in his voice. "Beka, I didn't mean any of what I said, honest, I didn't," he then stressed and brought her close to him, wrapping his arms tightly around her.

"It's ok, don't worry," Beka spoke calmly, partly in relief that he had admitted he was wrong but also with some guilt that she could have unwittingly played a part in the latest attack.

"I just," Harper began, then paused as he pulled away to look at both Dylan and Beka. "There's this 'thing' inside me, so angry and I can't control it," his face crumpled as he admitted what was worrying him. "I don't know what do to," he struggled to contain his emotions. "When we were hostages I just kept saying things and I couldn't stop, and with Tyr, I keep saying stuff, and I don't mean any of it," he stressed. "You have to believe me; I don't know what's going on!"

"Hey, hey," Beka reached forward and immediately pulled him back into a hug. "Don't go working yourself up, it's ok, we can deal with this, don't upset yourself," Beka quickly soothed, and glanced at Dylan with concern.

"Trance should run some tests," Dylan suggested. "It could be the damage to your brain has affected your moods somehow, I'm sure it's something that can be treated."

"More drugs," Harper spoke, as he pulled away from Beka looking only a little calmer now, but Beka didn't let him go completely, as he stayed close to her.

"If it means you're not snapping all our heads off, I'm all for it," Beka smiled fondly, and was pleased to see the smirk on Harper's face.

"Sorry," Harper offered meekly. "I'll try to get a grip."

"Let's go and pay a visit to Med Deck," Beka suggested brightly, and put her arm around Harper's shoulders to lead him.

"You're not leaving?" Harper asked with hope in his voice.

"I'm not going anywhere, not now," Beka beamed, leaving Dylan to watch them both walk away; satisfied for the moment that peace had been restored.

* * *

Tyr put down the weights already knowing that he had company, and somehow sensed who it was before he saw her.

"What the hell did you do to Harper?"

Tyr slowly shook his head, almost mocking the freighter captain as he moved closer. "I did nothing to your precious little boy, except give him words he needed to hear."

"He had another fit just moments after you saw him, you still think he needed to hear those words?" Beka asked, with her hands on her hips.

Tyr looked at her, a flash of concern in his eyes. "Is he ok?"

Beka just smirked. "Just answer my question."

"I assume you're aware that the little professor has decided to completely destroy his brain?" Tyr countered.

"It's for his own good," Beka returned.

"Do you believe that?"

Beka looked down and then sighed as she looked at Tyr again. "What choice does he have? Either way he has a crappy life to look forward to now, and that's something I have to live with so just butt out, ok?"

"If you were not so blinded by your own self pity you'd realise he has options," Tyr simply said as he grabbed his towel.

"Options?" Beka responded. "The brain damage he has can not be reversed, he's unmodified and from Earth, and he can't even move his hand," Beka explained clearly. "And you think telling him that he has options is the best for him right now?"

Tyr slowly walked up to Beka. "The moment he got that port he became a modified human being from Earth," he spoke with care. "Why stop there?"

"What?" Beka snapped, and turned as Tyr left the gym. "Tyr, get back here, what the hell are you talking about?" she yelled, but Tyr just kept walking and ignored her requests to explain himself.

TBC


	20. Chapter 20

Part 20

Rommie slowed down as she approached engineering on board the Maru. For nearly twelve hours since leaving med deck Harper had been onboard the Maru, that was docked on one of her hanger decks. She was growing concerned by his absence from her ship self, where she couldn't completely keep an eye on his readings.

On entering engineering, Rommie spotted her engineer. He was sat at the other end on the deck of the walkway, with his back against the railings that ran along the sides. He seemed lost in his thoughts, so much so he didn't react as she approached, and she noted that he looked sad as he stared seemingly into space.

"Harper?"

It took a moment for Harper to respond to her voice, and finally she was rewarded with the briefest of smiles and then he gestured for her to join him, as he patted the deck next to him. With only a slight hesitation, Rommie moved to sit on the deck next to Harper.

Harper glanced at her, and then he looked around the engineering section before sighing. "This used to be my life," he gestured sadly. Rommie looked around, trying to imagine when this area was all Harper had to look after. "I used to think I was the luckiest man alive," he continued, but his voice had an air of sarcasm about its tone. "When did things get so complicated?" he then asked, turning to Rommie for an answer.

"I'm not sure I understand," Rommie answered.

Harper smirked. "And you know before this all I wanted was a scrap of food, and each night I'd wish for two things," Harper continued, remembering his past. "One was to wake up again, and the other was to find enough food to survive the next day, and that's all I ever wanted," he frowned, and then shook his head as Rommie listened intently. "I got what I wished for, but you know, I've never thanked anybody for it," he looked at Rommie with sadness. "All my wishes came true and I just wanted more, and I didn't realise."

"Harper, I'm sure you have thanked all those needing thanks for where you are today, you probably just don't realise how," Rommie considered.

"I wish things would return to normal," Harper offered.

"Define normal," Rommie requested, and heard Harper smirk in response. "Harper, are you avoiding me?" Rommie asked finally, after a moment of silence between them.

"You? No," Harper was quick to assure her.

"Since our return you have spent more hours on board the Maru, then on board the Andromeda," Rommie noted. "Choosing to sleep in your quarters on board here, than your own on board the Andromeda," she stated.

Harper seemed uncomfortable suddenly, as he struggled to find an answer to her question.

"Harper, you said before that you couldn't face returning to the Andromeda, after what happened, and that you had lost the trust of the crew," Rommie spoke with care. "Is that still the case?"

"No," Harper offered, and then paused. "Maybe, it's just a lot to take in," he added with a frown. "I feel more comfortable on the Maru, no offence," he added quickly.

"I can't begin to imagine what you must be feeling," Rommie offered.

Harper smirked. "Don't even try," he suggested lightly. "I just wanted things to return to normal as quickly as possible, but it's not working out that way," he took a deep breath. "What happened was a big deal, and I have to accept that things won't ever be the same again."

"I'm sorry, Harper," Rommie spoke sincerely.

"Don't feel sorry for me, babe," Harper returned, but his focus remained on his hands, one of which remained in a cast, unable to move. "It's weird, you know," Harper began, sounding troubled. "There's stuff I'm doing and feeling now that I have no control over, the moods and the fits, and it's scary," he admitted. "I don't think I'll ever get use to it."

"Is that why you're going to have the operation?" Rommie asked but Harper could only shrug in reply. "I'll miss you, if you do."

"I won't be far away," Harper returned.

"To me you will," Rommie answered, and there was a silence that followed. Looking around, Rommie found it odd to be sitting on the deck, and turned to Harper. "Why are you sitting here, when there are more comfortable options for seating in the serving area?"

"Needed to see things differently," Harper offered, and then looked at Rommie awkwardly. "And it wasn't entirely my decision," he admitted.

Rommie didn't have to take too many guesses as to what he was trying to tell her. "You had another fit?"

"Yeah," Harper sighed.

"The medication isn't working, is it?" Rommie asked, already knowing the answer. "The frequency of these fits is concerning, you should go and see Trance."

"I don't want any more tests, there's no point," Harper dismissed.

"What prompted this fit, anything?" Rommie asked.

"I was checking that console," Harper gestured to the nearby station. "Was only viewing it, and for little under ten minutes," he added in his defence. "Suddenly felt queasy, then next thing I know I'm making friends with the deck, getting all up close and personal," he frowned, and then drew his knees closer holding them against his chest.

"I wish this wasn't happening to you," Rommie put her hand on Harper's arm for comfort.

"I'll be fine," Harper offered, as he stared blankly ahead. "But there's no way I can live without my port, without being so close to you."

"But if you have the operation," Rommie began but Harper stopped her, by placing a small disk in her hand. Immediately Rommie wrapped her fingers around the small metallic disk and closed her eyes, and information suddenly filled her conscious. After a few moments she opened her eyes and looked at Harper, unable to believe what she had seen. "You can't be considering this, Harper."

"Why not?" Harper asked, a little put out by her reaction.

"It's," Rommie hesitated, and then shook her head.

"It's the answer, Rommie," Harper offered. "Everything would be fixed and I'd still be able to work, work on you and your ship, I'd give nothing up."

"Except your humanity," Rommie countered.

Harper immediately smirked shaking his head. "What has humanity ever done for me?" he asked flippantly. "Besides, miss drama queen, only a small fraction of my brain is damaged and one hand, so how is that my whole humanity?"

"Artificial intelligence is just that, artificial, not the real thing," Rommie argued.

"Rommie, I would never dare say you weren't the real thing, you're as real as I am," Harper enthused. "It's the answer, and it's the only way. Think about it Rom Doll, we'd have so much more in common."

"Great, we could swap hands instead of just holding them," Rommie returned and got to her feet, clearly not happy.

"I thought of all the people on this ship you'd understand!" Harper snapped, angry by the androids stance. "I have a chance of maintaining my life, a good decent quality of life, and you want me to instead kill off who I am, to lose my identity?"

"And putting cyborg implants into your body is maintaining your identity?" Rommie countered, and kneeled down in front of Harper. "Harper, this is new technology that's barely tried and tested, and certainly not on unmodified humans."

"I am modified; I have this damn port remember?" Harper returned. "My body has already proven it can adapt to technology, I'm a prime candidate for this stuff," Harper returned with force.

Rommie closely examined Harper's face, seeing his determination and she let her head drop for a moment.

"Rommie, don't fight me on this, please, I've had enough of fighting this crew without you joining their ranks," Harper pleaded now. "The fits are increasing by the day, and the more that happens the more I'll be pushed to have the operation that will effectively kill me, and kill what we have," Harper stressed. "This way, you won't lose me and I won't have to give up who I am, and what I do."

Rommie lifted her head and looked with fondness at Harper, she reached out and took his bad arm in her hand feeling the stiffness in the joint, and reminding her of how broken her engineer was.

"It's the only way, Rommie," Harper's voice spoke softly.

"How has it come to this?" Rommie asked with confusion. "That you even have to consider this act, to have any chance of continuing your life as you know it?"

"Things could return to normal," Harper brightened. "We'd have a lot more in common," he added with hope that he was winning her over.

"I don't like that you have to do this to yourself," Rommie admitted, as she helped Harper to his feet. "But the alternative isn't much better, and I mean it when I say I don't wish to lose you."

"So you'll be ok with me doing this?"

"Do you need my permission?" Rommie questioned.

"I need your support," Harper shrugged. "This is major surgery, life changing and I haven't felt this scared since I had the port implant," he admitted with a frown.

Without another thought Rommie wrapped her arms around Harper, and held him close. "Of course you have my support," she assured him.

"Good, because I'm not sure I'll get it from the others," Harper frowned as he backed away. "You never saw Beka when I told her I was booked in to have the port, she nearly killed me before I even got to the medical facility," he remembered.

"I'm sure after what they did to you, they won't try to kill you for this," Rommie frowned. "But I agree, they might not understand or appreciate why you would want to do this, it's not a guaranteed procedure and still in its infancy technology wise."

"I never wanted or planned to one day be part cyborg, it wasn't on my list of priorities but you know, it's happened and now it feels right," Harper offered sincerely. "I never thought it would be Tyr who would point me in this direction, but I'm grateful that he has."

"Tyr?"

"He gave me the disk, with all the information on," Harper dismissed.

"Why would he do that?"

"Let's just say he owed me one and he's more than paid me back," Harper returned, and began to walk forward.

"Harper," Rommie stopped Harper walking away and turned him to her. "If Tyr has put you up to this, all I will say is take care around him once this procedure is done."

"What do you mean?" Harper questioned.

"It's not in Tyr's nature to simply return favours unless they benefit him," Rommie reminded the human.

"Look, I know all that but this is different, stuff happened and he did actually owe me this," Harper dismissed easily. "Don't worry," he added seeing that Rommie wasn't completely at ease.

"Maybe I am also experiencing trust issues with my crew," Rommie offered unsure.

"So we help each other, like we said, you help me and I'll help you and somehow we'll get through this mess smiling on the other side, ok?" Harper brightened as he put his arm around his creation, and they began to walk.

They had hardly walked five paces before Harper suddenly tensed up and backed into the bulkhead for support, closing his eyes as Rommie quickly got a hold of him to prevent him falling.

"Harper?" Rommie spoke with concern.

"It's ok," Harper spoke through clenched teeth, managing to keep some control through the fit he was experiencing but just as quickly his body suddenly relaxed as he slumped unconscious, falling forward into Rommie's hold.

"Harper?" Rommie called out and gently laid him out onto the deck to check his readings, finding them consistent and strong. "Open communications to Med Deck," Rommie then called out. "Trance, prep the med deck I'm going to be bringing Harper to you soon, he's experiencing repeated black outs with only a short space of time between each one."

"How bad are they?" Trance's voice returned over the coms.

"They seem mild enough, very little spasms but fully unconscious, he's beginning to wake up so they are not long attacks, but we should check this out," Rommie closed communication as Harper blinked his eyes.

"Did I hear Trance, is she here?" Harper asked with confusion.

"No, she was on coms, we're going to med deck," Rommie stated, as she helped Harper to his feet.

"Med deck, again?" Harper whined wearily.

"If you are going to have those implants, you need to be fit and strong and right now, you are anything but," she stressed, making sure Harper was balanced. "We have to get a control on these blackouts you're experiencing," Rommie insisted and this time Harper offered no argument, as he let her lead him off the Maru and towards med deck.

* * *

"So that was your idea?"

Tyr looked up on seeing Beka enter the mess deck, and she slowly walked towards him with little clue as to her actual mood.

"I assume you are speaking of the boy?"

"He's not a boy," Beka snapped, and took a seat opposite the Neitzschean. "And pretty soon I'm not sure what he'll be, thanks to you."

"You're welcome."

"I wasn't thanking you," Beka returned, and glared at the Nietzschean.

"You'd prefer instead that he further damage his brain, rendering him useless and forever remembering what he once could do?" Tyr questioned, meeting Beka's glare.

Beka didn't respond and then finally looked away. "I'd prefer that he didn't have to do anything like this," she sighed.

"Taking your anger out on me is fine, if that's what you want to do," Tyr suggested.

"Cyborg implants, Tyr?" Beka questioned. "I mean," Beka tried to find the words she wanted to say. "You knew he'd just jump on it, didn't you?"

"Why would I have wasted my time researching it if I didn't feel he'd want to try it?" Tyr returned.

"Why?"

Tyr looked closely at Beka. "Why?" he repeated confused to her question.

"Why help Harper?" Beka further explained her question. "What's in it for you?"

"The boy has potential that he deserves to fulfil, so why deny him that by an act done in a moment of madness?" Tyr asked with consideration.

"You actually care about him, don't you?" Beka realised.

"I have come to grow use to his skills, and his presence, so much so I would notice if they were no longer here, keeping us all safe on this ship," Tyr answered without emotion.

"Don't try and use the ship excuse, Tyr, just admit that you actually give a damn about Seamus Harper," Beka pushed.

"I care enough that I would strongly advise that he have the implants," Tyr offered. "I would not deny him a chance to grow."

Beka took a deep breath, and cross her arms as she stared at Tyr. "I'm not going to stop him, Tyr, but I'm warning you now, you best give a damn when he's having those things put in and when he's recuperating because if you so much as act as if its not your problem I will make it your problem, understood?"

"You wish me to play nurse maid?" Tyr sounded amused.

"I want you to give Harper the support he'll need," Beka stood up. "And trust me; he's going to need it because of you."

"I have helped him enough," Tyr declared and Beka slammed her hands down on the table between them.

"How easy would it be for you to give up your Nietzschean status to become part cyborg?" Beka demanded. "Would you really do it, or would you rather die?" Beka added, as Tyr stared back at her, and his answer was unclear in his expression but it said enough. "I thought as much, so you better be there to help Harper get through this, or so help you, Tyr," she warned before leaving the deck.

TBC


	21. Chapter 21

Part 21

The nurse looked at Harper, but there was no warmth in her expression as she stared at him, making the human feel uncomfortable in the Persied's presence. He wished he could have been allowed to have Beka, Trance or Rommie in with him, better still all three, as he tried to remain calm. For nearly an hour he had been left waiting in some hospital examination room and he felt very alone wearing next to nothing, waiting for the tests to be carried out that would determine when he would be able to have the cyborg implants.

"How long have you had the Data Port, human?"

"My name is Harper," Harper responded. "And about six or seven years," he then added, seeing the glare the nurse threw him.

"Any problems?"

"None," Harper quickly answered.

"I need to do a diagnostic on it," the nurse then stated, giving Harper only a moment to prepare before she inserted a jack into the port and connected it to a smaller device.

Harper closed his eyes as his port was tested, a few basic tests he determined as he recognised the signals. After a minute or so, the nurse removed the jack and put some information into a data pad she was holding.

"Did it pass?" Harper asked, more by way of conversation.

"A basic model, moderate speed, to be expected for your kind," the nurse responded without any emotion.

"Thanks," Harper frowned, realising he wasn't going to charm this Persied.

The door to the examining room opened and another Persied entered, a male doctor or scientist, Harper guessed.

"Mr Harper?" the Persied asked and Harper nodded his head, as the man walked to the nurse and took the data pad from her, reading the details. "Human, from Earth?"

"Correct," the nurse agreed before Harper could answer.

"And this is for the project?" the Persied questioned, a little flustered now.

"A request from the Commonwealth," the nurse returned.

"They have requested we treat a human from Earth?" the Persied checked again, and looked at Harper. "Oh dear, this is most unusual."

"What's the problem?" Harper asked, slightly agitated by the Persied's constant reference to his humanity and birthplace.

"My apologies," the Persied offered. "My name in Gahale, I am one of many research scientists on the cyborg implants process," he introduced himself.

"Seamus Harper, Commonwealth Engineer," Harper returned. "Human, from Earth," he added with a confident sneer.

"Quite," Gahale seemed to shirk a little. "This project was not designed for your species."

"What difference does it make?" Harper asked defensively.

"I will carry out the tests, as the Commonwealth requests," Gahale continued, without answering. "I see you have a Data Port, so that's something, yes, that's something," he muttered as he gathered his equipment. "Nurse, you may leave us now."

Harper watched as the charismatic nurse left, although he found he didn't feel any more comfortable being left with Gahale, who seemed to be having issues with him before even starting the tests.

"Please lie back and remove your gown," Gahale requested.

"What?" Harper returned with slight panic.

"I need to check your responses, your body can not be hidden from me if I am to take an accurate reading," Gahale returned, completely oblivious to the horror now registering on Harper's face.

"Everything?" Harper checked. "I mean you have to see everything?"

"Do you want me to continue with these tests or not?" Gahale asked with too much joy in his expression. "Mr Harper, I do not believe this is the time for modesty, I am a scientist and I need to conduct these tests correctly to determine your response."

"But why do I need to be naked?"

"Humans," Gahale shook his head with mild amusement. "Your kind are so amusing."

Feeling more stupid now for questioning the scientist, Harper reluctantly removed the gown and attempted to feel comfortable as he lay back on the cot, suddenly glad that they had insisted he be alone, and not have Beka, Trance or Rommie for company, he'd never live this down.

"Your heart is racing, I need you to calm down," Gahale announced.

"You try being calm when a strange scientist asks you to removed all your clothes and lay back to be 'tested'," Harper snapped, but then took some deep breaths and closed his eyes.

"That's better, good," Gahale simply announced after some time had passed, and Harper had managed to calm down. "Ah, there's the damage to the brain," Gahale pressed a metallic cylindrical object to Harper's head, moving it around his skull as he took readings from Harper's brain. "That appears to be good enough to work with the procedure," he added.

"So everything is ok?" Harper brightened, opening his eyes with hope.

"The tests are not complete," Gahale returned, as he moved the device down to Harper's chest and the room soon filled with the sound of a heartbeat. "Oh dear."

"Oh dear?" Harper panicked, and heard the beat speed up echo around the room.

"Oh dear," Gahale repeated but without explanation. "Your body has been through a lot, yes?" he then asked.

"Maybe," Harper shrugged.

"Recent damage, and long term," Gahale continued to move the metallic object around Harper's upper torso, over his ribs and stomach. "I understand from these records that the Commonwealth sent that your immune system is practically non-existent, due to your upbringing on Earth?"

"Doesn't stop me," Harper responded, feeling defensive once again.

"You are underweight, and have signs of a bad diet and mal-nourishment from childhood?"

"What is this?" Harper snapped. "I didn't ask for an intensive health check, I just want to know when I can have the implants."

"Quite," Gahale simply responded.

"Look just tell me the truth," Harper stated, before suddenly yelping as the cold metallic device brushed over his groin. "Ok, that's enough testing, what the hell are you doing!" Harper snapped, pushing himself up and backing away, before quickly retrieving his gown to cover up.

"Humans," The persied simply shook his head, and entered some data into his pad. "I'm sorry but you simply will not do."

"What?" Harper asked, stunned.

"You are not a suitable subject for our cyborg implants project, please get dressed and leave, thank you," Gahale explained.

"No, wait!" Harper reached out and grabbed the scientist's arm. "What do you mean?"

"Your tests results do not make you a suitable subject," Gahale stated calmly.

"But I need this, how am I not suitable?"

"You are weak, and of a species we do not want associated with our project in such early stages," Gahale spoke evenly.

"Because I'm human?"

"Because you are from Earth, we'd be a laughing stock if we used our technology on you, I'm sorry, but this facilities reputation is a primary concern," Gahale explained and attempted to release Harper's grip on his arm.

"No way, there is no way that you're going to deny me this operation because I'm from Earth," Harper sneered.

Gahale sighed. "You are too weak for the technology, you're heart and lungs would fail within days, possibly hours with the extra workload of the implants, and you would be prone to infections that could damage the technology," Gahale bluntly offered. "Seamus Harper, you are not a suitable candidate for this technology, you are barely fit enough to be a human, let along a cyborg host."

"What?" Harper tried not to sound too devastated.

"You're even unable to reproduce, you have so much damage for one so young," Gahale shook his head sadly.

"What the hell does that matter?" Harper returned, though the added news was taking its toll on him, he had had no idea he was in such bad shape.

"Your diet, your health, it's all connected to the success of these implants, healthy body, healthy mind, it's all relative," Gahale stressed firmly, before finally managing to release Harper's hold on him, stepping back. "I'm sorry, Mr Harper, but you have not been successful in becoming part of our cyborg implant program."

Gahale left him alone in the room that after a few moments began to spin as Harper slowly felt the onslaught of a fit. "No, not now," Harper took some breaths to fit the attack. "No!" Harper yelled, as his body suddenly went into spasm, and the last thing Harper was aware of was his body falling from the cot to the floor below.

* * *

"Excuse me?"

The nurse stopped and looked at the two ladies, and smiled. "Yes?"

"My friend was having a check up here, some tests and he's been a while so we're just wondering if you could check up on him for us?" Beka asked. "His name is Seamus Harper."

"Ah, the human from Earth," the nurse brightened on recognition.

"Yeah," Beka frowned, a little taken aback by the mode of recognition.

"The tests finished quite a while ago, but if you just hold on I'll find out what the delay is," she smiled sweetly and moved over to the desk. Beka frowned at Rommie whilst they waited for the nurse to return with information, and after a few moments she walked back to them. "Ah, it appears there was a little accident, he's been moved to the general administration area of the hospital."

"Little accident?" Rommie checked.

"We're not sure what happened, but after the tests he was found unconscious and had suffered a minor blow to his head," the Persied nurse maintained her annoying smile.

"He was in your care," Beka emphasised.

The nurse wavered slightly. "It happened whilst he was given some privacy to get dressed, we believe he suffered a fit, I understand he is at risk to them?"

"Whilst he got dressed?" Beka questioned. "I thought they were just doing a routine test before deciding a date for the procedure, why would he need to be undressed?"

"The tests required for cyborg implants affect the whole body," the nurse simply responded.

"So how do we get to this other area?" Beka asked, her patience waning.

"Follow the red signs above on the ceiling," the nurse gestured.

They watched the nurse hurry away, before Beka and Rommie began to walk. "I don't like this," Beka stated. "I mean of all the places you would think it was safe to leave Harper, a hospital would be top of the list," she seethed.

"Technically this is just a research facility attached to a hospital," Rommie defended. "But I agree, describing Harper as a human from Earth was a little strange."

"Did you notice that she almost scowled as well?" Beka saw Rommie nod her head. "I thought the Persieds liked and respected Harper."

"Hohne and Rekeeb certainly did, but we're unsure about the others," Rommie shrugged.

"You don't think Hohne's death has anything to do with these bad vibes I'm picking up, that nurse is the fourth person we've spoken to who has more or less sneered Harper's name," Beka stressed.

"If it is, then that does not bode well for the cyborg implants," Rommie frowned, as they crossed the corridor into general administration area of the hospital. On entering the reception area they immediately spotted Harper, sat alone in one of the chairs.

"Harper?" Beka moved quickly to him. "What's going on, why are you out here?"

"I don't know," Harper mumbled and Beka saw him absently holding a bloodied cloth to the side of his head. "Was told to wait here, no one has told me to do anything else since," he added wearily.

"What happened?" Rommie asked, accessing the damage and finding it to only be bump to the head, and a small cut.

"Don't know, I guess I blacked out," Harper answered with little energy. "They won't do it, Beka," Harper then stared with watery eyes at Beka. "They say I'm too weak, too human, too from Earth to have their stupid procedure done on me," he babbled, looking distraught.

"What?" Beka couldn't hide her shock.

"I don't fit their idea of a perfect specimen for their research, I'd be an embarrassment," Harper sniffed, struggling to hold onto his emotions.

"But you're perfect, Harper, you are the Commonwealth's top engineer that must account for something?" Rommie argued, but saw Harper only distantly shrug, seemingly lost in his despair.

"I'm finished, I might as well give up now for what its worth," Harper stressed with anger. "What good am I to anyone like this?"

"Calm down," Beka requested, and put her hands on Harper's arms. "I'm sure this is nothing more than a misunderstanding, let us talk to them."

"Why bother, they told me I wasn't suitable," Harper sneered, and then closed his eyes as he looked in pain suddenly.

"Harper, what is it?" Beka checked.

"Nothing," Harper responded, but kept his eyes closed.

"It's another fit," Rommie confirmed.

"Hurts," Harper suddenly tensed up, as his head fell back, and his breathing quickened. "Different," he struggled to speak as the fit took hold, and his body began to shake.

"This one is bad, we need assistance," Rommie confirmed and immediately Beka got to her feet and yelled for help and within seconds a doctor and a couple of nurses were with them, and gurney soon arrived. They moved Harper to the floor, as his body thrashed around and Beka could only watch with horror, as Harper suffered what appeared to be a very painful and harsh fit.

TBC


	22. Chapter 22

Part 22

Dylan looked at the screen, before glancing over to Tyr who seemed to be concentrating on the same message he had just read.

"It's not looking good," Dylan spoke up. "I've sent Trance down to see if she can assist them."

"The boy is strong," Tyr simply noted.

"He has to have the operation that will prevent the attacks, if he doesn't have it now the next attack will probably kill him," Dylan frowned.

"I suspect Harper would prefer death to numbing his brain," Tyr offered, and saw Dylan look sharply over at him. "He will not be able to stay here if he has that operation, too much of what he knows is here, it will only serve to drive him insane," Tyr explained.

Dylan sighed, knowing Tyr had a point. "I can't believe we're the cause of this, that we have so easily destroyed our brightest brain in the Commonwealth due to a misunderstanding."

"We need to explain to the Perseids that Harper needs those implants," Tyr then offered.

"I have tried explaining but they insist the implants will only kill him faster," Dylan frowned.

"Lies," Tyr crossed his arms. "They do not wish for a lowly kludge to be a recipient of their technology," he stated.

"We can't be accusing them of that," Dylan reasoned.

"Are you aware that Harper is being blamed unofficially for Hohne's death?" Tyr then asked.

Dylan spun round to look at Tyr from his console. "Show me evidence." Tyr transmitted the files to Dylan's console, and the captain took a moment to read through them.

"Hohne was the facilities hero, he put their name on the map and I firmly believe that had Hohne survived, he would want Harper to receive this implants, to preserve his intelligence," Tyr continued.

"You may well be right, I wasn't aware of any ill feeling towards Hohne's death, especially not to Harper," Dylan explained. "I'll make one more plea, and demand the truth, and if it is being refused due to Harper's background I will not tolerate that as an adequate reason."

"And if that fails I have a very big gun that might persuade them," Tyr offered.

* * *

Beka hurried to Harper's side as he showed signs of waking up, it had been nearly four days since he had suffered the attack that so very nearly claimed him once again. With a low groan, Beka grabbed his good hand and squeezed it gently.

"Seamus?"

"Can't move," Harper barely whispered, and his eyes remained closed.

"You've been heavily sedated, to prevent further attacks, so don't panic," Beka soothed.

"Where am I?" Harper checked, attempting to open his eyes but it appeared to be too much effort.

"Sinti," Beka answered.

"Is this it? Is this how it's going to be now?" Harper mildly panicked.

"No," Beka insisted. "You have to focus on getting your strength back, and being fit enough for the operation."

"Operation?" Harper questioned. "No," he panicked.

"Not that operation, the implants," Beka's voice carried joy to her revelation.

"They said no," Harper only showed confusion.

"They have now agreed to go ahead, apparently Dylan and to some extent Tyr, managed to change their minds," Beka smiled, even though Harper's eyes remained closed. "But they can't operate whilst you are ill, so you need to focus on getting better."

"Can't," Harper returned wearily. "Feel weak, like crap," he barely whispered.

"Try," Beka insisted.

"I'm only human," Harper spoke, and a brief smirk appeared.

"Not for much longer, right?" Beka found a smirk as well. "Seamus, please, you have to get stronger, for me?"

"For you," Harper agreed, and his eyes finally opened. "Something is different," he then noted.

"The sedative must be wearing off," Trance's voice sounded, coming closer.

"My chest, it hurts," Harper's breathing quickened.

"It's ok, stay calm, you've had a primary operation, it's nothing to worry about," Beka encouraged Harper.

"What?" he worried.

"They needed to prepare you for the added stress of the implants," Trance spoke with confidence. "You've been fitted with a couple of minor implants around your heart to act as failsafe's and provide additional support to your natural systems."

"It's already begun, I already have implants?" Harper asked, a little dazed.

"First steps, your heart now has a backup function in case it fails," Beka stated, her expression showing sadness, that her smile tried to hide. "You're now modified, technically already on the way to becoming half-cyborg."

"I feel them," Harper spoke with slight shock. "I'm not ready for this," Harper then panicked.

"Now is not the time for second thoughts, Seamus, you need this, remember?" Beka encouraged.

"Feeling the implants will pass, I've been told you will experience discomfort whilst your body adapts to the foreign nature of the implants," Trance explained.

"When will I be able to move again?"

"It will be while," Trance frowned.

"We won't leave your side, Seamus, I promise," Beka insisted.

"How long?" Harper asked.

"Roughly a month, whilst your body syncs up with the implants, any movement in the first few hours or days could prove fatal," Trance warned.

"They are going to put your head in traction for at least a month to protect the implant that will be put at the base of your brain," Beka's voice carried an air of concern.

"So it's really happening?" Harper asked, his voice weak.

"I'm so sorry," Beka suddenly spoke, grabbing hold of Harper's hand.

"Hey, no," Harper immediately returned. "No crying, come on, it's ok," Harper insisted. "It's no one's fault, maybe this was suppose to happen," he offered.

"That I give you brain damage?" Beka questioned.

"Beka, Harper needs to rest," Trance diplomatically reminded her, and Beka immediately took a deep breath.

"Ignore me, you're right and Trance is right, you need to rest," Beka agreed.

"Don't worry," Harper requested. "Please?"

"I can't help it, Seamus, you don't see what I see," Beka then frowned, there were so many machines surrounding Harper and his chest bore a huge bandage from the earlier surgery. "But I'll try not to worry," she compromised.

"Thanks," Harper seemed satisfied and closed his eyes, easily slipping back to sleep.

Trance moved over with Beka to the doors. "He's weak, too weak," Trance simply said.

Beka shook her head containing an inner rage. "The chin heads will see it as another challenge, try and find some more implants to stuff inside him, complete their mutilation," she sneered. "I don't like this, I don't like what they are doing to him and Rommie is right, technically he hasn't agreed to any of this," she fumed.

"Harper wanted this," Trance spoke calmly.

"You saw him, he was scared and having second thoughts," Beka countered.

"He's never been good in medical facilities, and you can't blame him for being scared," Trance argued.

"I don't," Beka sighed heavily as they walked out into a side room and removed their protective clothes, leaving the sterile environment that Harper was residing in. "I blame myself, and nothing anyone says will stop me," she stressed and walk away, leaving Trance to wonder if they'd ever come to terms with the changes that would enivitably happen to their friend.

* * *

Reboot…

Awaken…

Systems working within parimeters…

Harper opened his eyes wide to the alien voice inside his head and took a sharp intake of breath, unable to move and feeling strange. Taking a breath, though it felt unatural, Harper blinked his eyes and tried to make sense of what he was feeling and the foriegn information that was flooding his senses, as if he was jacked in.

"Mr Harper?"

A Perseid came into view, and Harper stared at him, wanting to speak but unable to make the simple action happen.

"His voice is not functioning." Harper showed confusion to the words he heard. "Facial features fully functional, responses sharp, this is very promising, very promising indeed."

Harper felt a small jolt that took him by surprise and immediately he let out a groan. "What the," Harper began, then heard his own voice, he was able to talk and he immediately looked at the Perseid, even though his movement was limited. "Where am I?"

"Sinti," the chin head returned with a smile.

"Where's Beka, Trance?" Harper asked, feeling lost.

"Unfortunately they can not be here at this time, this room is off limits whilst we test your implants, and ensure they are working," the Perseid continued.

"I want to see them," Harper insisted.

"I'm sorry, you are stictly confidential and have been for the past month since the operation," the chinhead answered.

"A month?" Harper felt devestated, to think he had lost a month and then he worried about Beka. "You've kept Beka updated, right?"

"You are confidential."

"No!" Harper snapped. "I'm not some lab rat, or science test, I want to see my friends! I want to move, I need to get up, please, I don't like this!"

"Interesting," the Perseid suddenly looked at his pad. "Isn't this interesting," he gestured to his colleagues to look.

"Fascinating," another remarked. "We've never had such an emotional response for the implants to deal with, these results will prove interesting."

"Please," Harper then pleaded. "I want to see my friends, and I want to move."

"Until you are completely healed, that is not possible for both," The perseid offered.

"How long will that be?"

"To move, maybe in a months time," one Perseid offered.

"Six months in total before you can leave, so you have five to go."

"No!" Harper exclaimed again. "I'm not staying here for that long, no way!"

"You need to rest and be monitored to ensure you are healing and adapting well to the technology that is now a major part of who you are," the chin head explained with care.

"That wasn't in anything I read," Harper offered, and it felt like a lifetime ago since he did his research into the implants procedures.

"You are an exceptional case, Mr Harper," the perseid returned. "We have gone beyond even our wildest imaginations in making you better."

"So I am a freaking lab rat, what is this? Going to have me running wheels?" Harper mocked angrilly.

"The technology now inside your brain is top secret research, we can not afford for you to be out there until this is official launched," The Perseid explained gruffly. "You wanted this, so you will abide by our wishes."

Harper closed his eyes and tensed on seeing information inside his mind, not unlike being jacked in.

"He's discovered the internal neural interface," the lead Perseid almost jumped with joy. "Designed to kick in, and focus all attention on its read out using the human's brain as a projector, genius, truly is," he continued.

"How do I make it stop?" Harper asked, with his eyes still closed and reading the test data that his implant was feeding him.

"You will learn to live with it as your guide."

"But I don't want this," Harper stressed.

"In time you will be shown how to control what you see, but for the moment we need to determine your limits, and it might be uncomfortable for you at times," the Perseid advised. "But for now, if you say shut down that function will cease but that option is only temporary, you will need to learn to adapt."

"Shut down," Harper spoke and his mind was immediately clear of the foreign information. He opened his eyes and took some calming breaths, before flexing his arms and noticing another fix as he brought his previously injured hand up so he could see it. The fingers and wrist moved like new and he had feeling that had previously been lost.

"We're especially proud of our work on your hand," the Perseid offered. "We have retained your bone structure, nerves and skin, the only work we did was remove the damaged joint and replaced it with an artificial one that melded beautifully with your bone. Then all we had to do was set up a signal relay between your brain implant and your fingers, and you're hand is fully functional again."

The other Perseid moved forward. "You now have additional strength in this hand, plus we placed a thin layer similar to your cyborg implants under the skin on your hand, that is directly linked to the joint meaning you have the added feature of being able to access machines via the palm of your hand."

"I have features now?" Harper didn't seem impressed. "What model am I, will I need upgrades?"

"Possibly," the Perseid enthused not picking up on Harper's mood.

Harper kept flexing his hand, it looked so normal and like it always had done but it felt different, and not a part of him much like his own mind.

"We need to send you back to sleep, you have successfully completed our first conscious tests but there's still a lot of work to be done before you are finished," the Perseid advised.

"Hey wait a minute," Harper demanded, as he heard a hissing sound in his neck. "I don't," Harper was already struggling to remain awake. "I, want," his eyes closed before he was unconscious once again.

TBC


	23. Chapter 23

Part 23

"Six weeks, Dylan," Beka stressed.

"I know how long it's been, but I can't say any more than I already have, the Perseids I'm sure are looking after Harper's best interests," Dylan stated, as he stood on command. "They will not permit anyone other than the three leading scientists to see Harper at what they call a very delicate stage."

"He's not a machine, he's still human despite what they're doing to him, he needs us by his side not simply going about our business as if nothing is happening," Beka stressed.

"It is wrong that are keeping Harper prisoner," Tyr offered, crossing his arms.

"Tyr's right," Trance now spoke up. "Harper is nothing more than a prisoner and we should not have just accepted that Harper is a part of a top secret program, he's the Commonwealths top engineer and we don't know what they are doing to him."

"Do you sense anything?" Dylan asked towards Trance.

"Not to do with Harper no, but," Trance looked around unsure. "Something is very wrong."

"And you're sure that's not to do with Harper?" Beka checked moving forward, but Trance was looking around, above her head and no one could quite determine what she was trying to see, or what was concerning her.

Suddenly Trance yelped and moved aside as a flash of blue tesseract light and a slight distortion occurred to her immediate right and seconds later there was a new person on command, who didn't belong there.

"Hohne?" Beka was the first to comment, as Hohne quickly picked himself up.

"Oh dear," Hohne remarked, aware that he was being stared at.

* * *

The Perseids looked at each other, and then glanced at their subject. They showed concerned in their expression, and sadness.

"Mr Harper, you have to eat or we'll be forced to attach the tubes again."

"Not hungry," Harper returned, and closed his eyes.

"This is not good, not good at all," one of the Perseids muttered, and moved away. "Loss of appetite, lack of focus or drive, not good," he shook his head.

"Let's convene outside, we need to talk," the tallest of the Perseids decided and the third Persied stood by Harper and put his hand to the back of the human's neck, before leaving the room.

* * *

Beka tried not to get her hopes up as she stood with Tyr in the reception of the medical facility on Sinti, knowing Harper was so near, but still seemed so far away. Her anxiety caused her to shift nervously from one foot to the other, and she didn't seem to notice the commotion that Hohne's presence, inside the establishment that honoured him, had caused.

"I have already explained several times, explaining several times more will not achieve anything, I am here to see the human, Seamus Harper," Hohne insisted.

"Sir, you have to accept that it's been two years since we last saw you, we thought you were dead!" a Persied dressed in a lab coat gushed, shaking Hohne's hand as he did so. "Sir, you being alive is unbelievable, it's truly remarkable."

"I get that, I truly do but more pressing concerns demand my attention, I need to know why you have young Harper a prisoner here," Hohne spoke with confusion, needing to understand.

"We have no one prisoner, sir," the lab coated Persied hurriedly explained. "He's just involved in top level research."

"I wish to see him," Hohne then gestured to his friends. "We all do."

"Well I'm not sure," the Persied hesitated.

"Have you demoted me from this facility in my absence, am I no longer an authority here because my death was misreported?" Hohne asked, and both Dylan and Tyr exchanged amused glances at the Perseids stand.

"Of course not, sir, I will work now to gain you access, but only you," the Persied glanced at the others, recognising them as the members of the Andromeda crew. "Sir, we're talking top level research."

"I understand the term, I penned the guidelines," Hohne shot back slightly irritated. "We're talking about keeping a young man, an esteemed colleague of these people, locked up and away from those who simply want to know that he's doing ok, our research into humans has shown that they require contact from those closest to them so I fail to understand why he has been separated."

"Sir, he's undergone this facilities most complex treatment yet, we can not afford to make any mistakes, as you have yourself pointed out we're talking about a fragile being at best," the lab coated Persied stood his ground.

Hohne paused before responding, glancing at Dylan and Tyr. "Has the treatment gone to plan?"

The demeanour suddenly changed of the Persied Hohne was addressing. "I can't discuss this outside of the research environment, sir."

"Then I suggest you take us all to an area where it can be discussed, these people have a right to know, or do you want me to continue raising my voice with so many onlookers gawking at my return?" Hohne gestured to the growing crowd around them.

"Fine," the Persied agreed, looking flustered. "You, and your friends, follow me."

Hohne acknowledged the gesture with thanks, and then signalled to the others to follow him, as they were led through security doors and away from the excited crowd that had formed.

* * *

Beka couldn't sit at the table as had been requested; instead she was stood transfixed in front of the thick pane of glass that separated her from the lone being on the other side. Her eyes stared wide at the figure lying on the cot, tubes attached to his arm and chest and she wanted to just hold him tight. Seamus Harper looked fragile and underweight, plus very pale. With only a blanket covering the lower half of his body, Beka could see his protruding bones and see how much muscle definition he had lost in the six or seven weeks he had been there.

"Beka, you need to sit down," Dylan spoke calmly.

"Look at him, what the hell have we done?" Beka spoke, her voice breaking, as she continued to stare at her friend in the other room.

"Please," Dylan spoke again.

"It's ok," Hohne offered, as he reviewed Harper's file. "She can remain standing," he added, glancing up at her. "Oh dear," he then shook his head as he looked at one of the reports. "Treatment is not going well, not going well at all."

"What do you mean?" Beka spun around, suddenly interested in what Hohne had to say.

"It would appear that the additions that have been made are not integrating as well as we would have liked," Hohne continued. "Harper is unresponsive, and unable to cope with the implants, his body is rejecting them it seems."

"What does this mean?" Dylan asked.

"Too early to say, but over the past couple of weeks work has been carried out to try and counter act what has been seen as the main problem areas," Hohne read the report as he spoke.

"What are the main problem areas?" Tyr asked.

"By all accounts, it seems to be young Harper himself," Hohne frowned. "Oh dear."

"Oh dear?" Beka questioned, taking her seat.

"I am not sure," Hohne muttered and then a door opened and three Perseids marched in, clearly unhappy.

"What are you doing here!" the first one spoke and then his jaw dropped, as he stared at Hohne. "Hohne, sir," he suddenly flustered. "I had heard but I didn't believe, I am most sorry, I don't know what to say."

Hohne simply frowned, tiring of the hero worship. "Are you in charge of this project?"

"Lead Scientist Fascher, sir," he offered. "And these are my two assistants Junish, and Loombe," he added and gestured to his colleagues. "We've led this project, sir."

"I see," Hohne simply said, and glanced around the table, seeing Dylan, Tyr and Beka looking less than impressed.

"I hope our notes have served you well, and been of interest," Fascher stated.

"Very," Hohne stood up. "Tell me why you have restricted access to Harper from his friends, our friends of the Commonwealth."

"It was for his own good, so we could control the environment," Fascher immediately answered.

"Harper has not requested to see his friends, no?" Hohne asked.

"A couple of times, but he's rarely conscious," Fascher stated. "It is not a factor of our concern."

"Yet Harper is not doing so well, no?"

"The subject has reacted negatively to the treatment," Fascher agreed with reluctance.

"The subject has a name, and a species," Hohne picked up.

"I understand that, sir," Fascher stressed.

"When will he next wake?"

"Any minute, I'm sure," Fascher enthused and looked to his assistants. "Junish, Loombe, go and observe when the subject," Fascher hesitated. "The human, Harper, will wake."

The two quickly left the room, and Hohne didn't seem happy. "I wish to see Harper, with his friends, as soon as he wakes."

"I'm not sure," Fascher began and then stopped on seeing Hohne's expression. "Of course, we'll need to take a couple of readings and disconnect him from the equipment for a while, so you may have full access."

"Very well," Hohne agreed and they all turned on hearing audio from the room, as Loombe announced that the human was waking.

Beka immediately moved from her seat to the window and saw Harper blinking his eyes to the light, but still looking exhausted. Hohne then cleared his throat and Beka turned to see that they were leaving and she hurriedly caught up with them as they made their way down a small corridor to the room where Harper was being kept. As soon as they had gone through the decontamination booth, Beka rushed forward to Harper's side and took his hand into hers.

"Seamus?"

It took Harper a moment to register Beka's voice, but on doing so he suddenly caught his breath and just stared at her. "Beka?" he spoke with doubt.

"It's me, Seamus, I'm here, just as I promised, sorry it took a while," Beka held his hand tight and wished she could hug him but she then noticed the contraption that was restricting Harper's movement, and she tried not to look horrified as he appeared nailed to the cot.

"Help me," Harper then pleaded, looking desperate. "I don't like it here; I want to go home, please?"

Beka didn't know what to say, seeing him up close now she hardly recognised him, looking so thin and frail, and unable to move.

"Why is he fixed to the cot?" Tyr's voice asked from behind Beka, seeing now what Beka was trying hard not to react to.

"We must protect his head, and our work," Fascher spoke.

"From what?" Tyr asked.

"From accidents," Fascher returned as if it was obvious.

"You have put your technology into a being that by all accounts attracts accidents," Tyr observed dryly. "Surely you would learn more if you had some faith in your own work, and let the boy go."

"This is unacceptable," Dylan spoke up now, taking in the condition in which Harper was being kept. "How long has he been attached to this cot?"

"Since after the operation," Junish answered.

"Six weeks?" Beka practically spat. "He's been immobile for six weeks and you expected what exactly, for him to be completely happy and willing?"

"We have taken care of his needs, this is not about him," Junish argued.

"It's all about him!" Dylan stormed.

Beka glanced down at Harper, as the discussion raged in the background with Hohne quickly joining the heated discussion, for once Harper was silent and it nearly broke Beka's heart to see him like this. "Hey, Seamus, look at me," she requested.

Reluctantly Harper's eyes moved to look at Beka, and he looked ready to let go of his emotions that threatened. "This isn't me," he stressed.

"We're going to get you out of here, I promise, I'm so sorry we left you here when they told us to leave," Beka held his hand tighter.

Harper squeezed his eyes tight and then opened them again. "I just want to die."

"No!" Beka stressed, sensing Harper's despair. "I promise things will get better, I promise, Harper, please don't say that."

"It feels wrong," Harper continued, showing no reaction to Beka's words. "I don't like this, I don't want to be like this, this isn't me I was wrong!"

"Please, Harper just hold on, I promise things will not be like this for much longer, it will get better," Beka was almost on the verge of losing herself to her emotions, having never seen Harper so desperate and lost. "Hohne's alive, he never died, he's right here and he'll help you, just hold on," Beka pleaded, and saw the uncertainty in Harper's expression to her news.

"Hohne, alive, here?" Harper barely whispered.

"He's just over there, he'll put a stop to this," Beka gestured to the condition Harper was in.

"Make them stop," Harper simply said, no longer reacting to the news about Hohne, as if dismissing it. "Leave me in peace, I just want the darkness."

Beka closed her eyes. "I'm so sorry we did this to you." When she opened her eyes, Harper was just staring past her, without emotion and she felt a pain in her gut that he actually agreed with her sentiment that caused her more pain.

"I want him released!" Dylan's voice rose from the heated discussion that continued, and Beka turned.

"There is no way, it's too soon!" Fascher returned.

"Hohne, can you help us?" Dylan asked.

"No!" Junish yelled out, fearful of developments and he rushed forwards towards Harper. Before anyone could stop him he put his hand to the back of Harper's neck and Harper immediately fell unconscious.

"What the hell did you just do?" Beka demanded towards the scared looking Persied.

"Please tell me you didn't," Hohne slowly moved towards Fascher.

"We had no choice," Fascher defended.

"What have they done?" Beka yelled, but deep down she knew.

"On off switch?" Dylan questioned with disgust.

"The subject would not rest, and would not obey our commands, we had to enable a feature that would control him to the point we could continue our work," Fascher rapidly explained.

There was a stunned silence in the room, before Tyr strode over to the cot and removed the metal framework that had kept Harper in place for nearly six weeks, and no one stopped him as he scooped Harper up into his arms and walked over to Junish. "Wake him," Tyr ordered.

Nervously Junish glanced at Fascher who didn't react. Hohne then moved beside Dylan. "I would suggest you consider this experiment over, I will take it from here, and from this facility, taking your notes with me."

"You can't," Fascher began shaking his head and both Dylan and Beka drew their force lances.

"I would suggest you wake young Harper up," Hohne stated towards Junish, who shakily put his hand to the back of Harper's neck and suddenly Harper stirred.

"Let's go," Dylan ordered, as Hohne picked up the research notes and followed the others, stopping momentarily to address Fascher.

"I am not happy, and I will be back, but not before I have attempted to repair the damage you have done," Hohne stated and left the room, leaving Fasher and his assistants fearing for their scientific futures.

TBC


	24. Chapter 24

Part 24

Slowly he opened his eyes and felt a familiar hum around him, a comfortable settled hum and one he trusted. It had been a long while since he had felt this safe, and had felt comfort around him. Then a massage flashed up in his subconscious, the boot up sequence started and Harper jerked awake with a fright, realising it hadn't just been a nightmare, it was very real.

"Seamus," Beka's voice was close by, as Harper froze and tried to calm his breathing. Harper closed his eyes and composed himself, figuring he was in his own bed on board the Andromeda. "Seamus, are you ok?" Beka's concerned tones interrupted him.

"Just you know," Harper remarked. "Booting up," he squirmed.

"Are you in pain?" Beka checked, as Harper kept his eyes closed.

"Just freaked, always happens," Harper strained as he tried to get use to the sensation of the unnatural information inside his head. "I'll be fine in a minute," he took a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding, and then opened his eyes.

"Do you need anything?" Beka asked.

"A reality check would be nice," Harper offered.

"I have a protein shake, try and build your strength up," Beka compromised, and Harper just stared at it.

"Not hungry," he stated.

"You have to eat, you were on the verge of starvation, Seamus," Beka spoke with care.

"I haven't eaten for so long, they just pumped," Harper paused unable to continue for a moment, and then stared at the drink. "Almost forgotten how, been distracted," he mumbled.

"The Commonwealth, with Hohne, are pressing charges against the facility on Sinti for their treatment of you whilst in their care, you were nothing more than a lab rat to their stupid project," Beka stressed with underlying anger.

"I was only human," Harper shrugged.

"I wish we hadn't left you there," Beka looked at Harper with regret.

"I wanted the treatment."

"But we became so determined to help you after what we did to you, that we forgot to ask questions, we just trusted those monsters," Beka spat, but saw Harper was looking off into the distance. "What are you thinking?" she asked, curious to know, trying to understand where Harper's mindset was in that moment.

"Thinking?" Harper questioned. "I'm not even sure I can do that now, I was just looking at that bulkhead and determining its weight and mass, I look up at the panel there and I can tell you exactly where the power conduits on the other side go to and I'm currently analysing the different ingredients of that shake, very healthy, but nothing more," Harper paused. "I can't think anymore, I'm all about the facts," Harper spoke with sadness.

Beka just stared at him, not knowing what she could say when she was having trouble believing it herself. Taking a deep breath, Beka remembered why she was there, knowing he was due at the gym for his first session to help his rehabilitation.

"Try and drink some of this shake, you have a session with Tyr coming up so you'll need your strength," Beka advised and this time Harper tentatively reached out to take the cup. As soon as his right hand clasped the cup, Harper draw it back and Beka only just managed to retake the shake so it didn't spill. "What is it?" Beka asked, seeing Harper's reaction. Harper seemed unable to answer, as he just sat in a daze. "Ok, maybe we'll forget the shake till after you've had your session in the gym," Beka decided.

"I can't do this," Harper finally spoke.

"Seamus, please," Beka returned, wishing she could make it better for her friend. "Take each hour as it comes, and it will get better, but you have to try."

Harper closed his eyes and let his head drop. "Do I look any different to you?" he then asked.

"No," Beka answered, truthfully taking his hands into her own. "But I'd like nothing more than to make things right, to turn back the clock and just return to how things were, before our worlds fell apart."

Harper showed little emotion as he stared blankly at his hands in Beka's hold. "Your heart is racing," Harper closed his eyes with concentration. "And you may need a vitamin boost, to get your levels up." Beka took her hand away, and stared at Harper with confusion as he opened his eyes and partly shrugged. "Part of the upgrade," he remarked, and showed her his hand that had once been crippled but now fully operational again with the help of the implants in his wrist. "It's freakier for me," he added.

Beka took his hand and turned it over so she could look at his palm. "You sense stuff?"

"Yeah," Harper frowned. "They put a thin layer of something or other under the skin of my palm, so now whatever my hand comes into contact with, I get all this junk in my head."

"Everything?" Beka frowned.

"Gonna really screw up my love life," Harper offered, and then smirked when Beka lightly hit him, knowing what he was referring to.

"Now that's the Harper I've missed," Beka smiled and saw Harper relax slightly. "You have to give it time, Seamus, you've only been back for a few hours and you haven't been given the right support to get use to those implants, Hohne is working out this program to help you so give it time," she moved forward and embraced Harper warmly. "We should get going, before Tyr decides that he's waited long enough."

Harper nodded his head then gingerly got to his feet, after six weeks of lying on his back he was still struggling to get his bearings. "You sure I don't look any different?" he asked again. "I feel so different."

"You look the same to me, and once you're fit and well again there will be no difference," Beka assured him but as they began to walk Beka noticed that Harper remained silent and she glanced at him, seeing he appeared miles away in thought. "Harper? What's wrong?"

"Huh?" Harper reacted with surprise.

"You're not talking, it's not like you," Beka offered.

"Oh, sorry," Harper stammered. "It's just," he paused as he tried to concentrate on walking, and explaining himself. "So much information, I mean before I was always thinking and that was fine but now my head is constantly giving me information I don't need," he tried to explain and as he talked it was clear he was struggling to maintain a fluid motion in walking, showing distraction. "Say for example right now I'm seeing in my mind the compositions of the bulkheads around us, I mean why do I need to know that, why is my head telling me this?" he demanded with confusion. "It's driving me to distraction, driving me crazy," he stressed and Beka noticed his eyes were not looking at her as he talked, he wasn't even focused on anything around him but he was inside his own head and she suddenly felt fear for her friend.

"Can't you shut it down?" Beka asked.

"I tried but," Harper paused, and Beka sensed it wasn't because he couldn't find the words.

"Harper, Harper," Beka spoke to get his attention, and suddenly he blinked his eyes.

"Right, yeah, no," Harper answered.

"No?" Beka checked.

"Can't shut it down, I can't do anything, this is in my head and I wanted it there, why the hell did I want this?" Harper stressed.

"Remember the alternative," Beka encouraged, and saw Harper move his eyes to the side and with realisation she knew he was 'accessing' the info, not recalling from memories like a human normally would. "Let's just keep moving," she spoke, unable to comprehend what had happened to Harper.

"Have I upset you?" Harper asked unsure.

"We all have to get use to this, Harper," Beka simply answered, as they arrived at the gym and she watched as Harper walked in, and stayed until he approached Tyr before turning and leaving them to it without word.

* * *

"I will do what I can, Captain Hunt, but in truth young Harper seems severely traumatised by those essential six weeks after the procedure that I'm not sure what I can truly do," Hohne offered. "I am sorry."

"Just do what you can to help him," Dylan requested calmly.

"That I will do," Hohne agreed, and then hesitated. "May I ask as to why such a procedure was requested by the Commonwealth on such a brilliant young mind?" Hohne then ventured.

Dylan sighed heavily. "I guess you have a right to know, and I admit that I for one have been avoiding telling you, it still makes little sense to me," he added, as he rose to his feet. "A few weeks ago an event happened on the Andromeda that meant that Beka, Tyr and myself forgot that Harper was our engineer," he frowned, as he paced around his desk, occasionally looking at Hohne for his reaction. "Some gas was accidentally released, and essentially the three of us talked ourselves into a hallucination that meant when we next saw Harper we saw him as an intruder, a threat."

"Oh dear," Hohne expressed, but leaned forward with fascination to the tale.

"We pursued the threat and along the way, Harper got hurt, pretty bad and it was only because Rommie and Trance remembered him that he was able to escape this ship with his life and find sanctuary on a nearby drift," Dylan explained. "Finally we were snapped out of our hallucination but that was only the start of Harper's problems, on his return we discovered he had brain damage caused by something we did to essentially stop the threat, to add to the trauma of those mad few hours."

"Brain damage," Hohne sounded devastated. "I guess it was bad?"

"He could still function, but he was less susceptible to machines, and light, which more or less rendered him at risk every time he tried to do his job, he was suffering very painful fits and a couple of times he lost consciousness for long periods of time," Dylan avoided Hohne's reaction as he continued now. "The fits became more frequent and his life was at risk, and we felt the only option was to fix the brain damage with an operation to numb that area of the brain."

"Which would have disabled him, make him unable to do his work, well now it makes perfect sense, this procedure by adding the implants was the only option, oh I feel a lot easier about this now, Captain Hunt," Hohne enthused, as he got to his feet.

"You do?" Dylan asked.

"Forgive me, originally I thought young Harper had put himself up for this procedure to simply expand his mind, when if that had been the case I would have severely reprimanded him, but as it is, he needed these implants and it is therefore unfortunate that my people chose to abuse this need," Hohne explained with passion.

"All I ask, Hohne, is that you help Harper," Dylan stated.

"Of course," Hohne agreed. "I believe that after such shocking events in such a short amount of time that it's simply a case of re-educating him into thinking he is still in fact a genius, and not a victim."

"That seems a good first step," Dylan smiled. "One I'm sure Harper can adapt to with ease."

Both men looked up as Beka entered Dylan's office and sat down, putting her head in her hands.

"Beka?" Dylan prompted after a moment.

"I just seen Harper, I took him to the gym for his first strengthening workout with Tyr," Beka looked up, and she looked troubled and was unable to speak for a moment. "Every time I see him, I see what I did to him," she managed with effort and Dylan moved to sit by her side, taking her hand into his.

"We have to be strong, Beka," Dylan encouraged.

"Really trying but," Beka offered, shaking her head but not continuing.

"Dylan."

"Go ahead Andromeda," Dylan looked up at the view screen. "Tyr has requested medical assistance for Harper, my avatar is on her way and Trance is prepping med deck."

"What has happened?" Beka was quickly alert, as she pushed herself to her feet.

"Unsure, but Harper is in some distress, Tyr activated privacy mode for the workout session so I am not sure exactly what happened," Andromeda revealed.

"I want you to access those files, Andromeda, I want to know what happened," Dylan demanded and then gestured to Beka and Hohne to follow him to med deck.

* * *

"Tyr?" Rommie spoke with caution, seeing Tyr standing over Harper who lay unmoving on the floor.

"He doesn't move, and I am unclear what he wants," Tyr answered, crossing his arms and looking at Harper with some curiosity.

Rommie quickly moved to Harper's side, seeing him conscious but in some distress. His knees were drawn up, and he was clutching them to his chest and his face was grimacing. "Harper?"

Harper tensed up and then snapped his eyes open. "Rommie," he spluttered with surprise, with his breathing heavy. "I haven't seen you in so long," he then realised and looked at her with confusion. "Why?"

"Now is not the time," Rommie answered. "Are you ok to stand, do you need medical assistance?" she asked.

"Yes, no," Harper stammered. "I mean, I'm ok," he answered with some thought, and then he took Rommie's hand to stand but the moment their hands touched they both froze and stared into each others eyes. "Rommie?" Harper spoke shakily.

"I feel you," Rommie answered, as she pulled him to his feet and kept their hands together. "This is strange."

"Telling me," Harper remarked, and they both fell silent for a moment before Harper found a smile. "Stop that, tickles," Harper laughed.

"Would you two like to be left alone?" Tyr spoke up and immediately Harper and Rommie let go of each others hands.

"What was that?" Harper asked a little awkwardly towards Rommie.

"I'm not sure, but it felt like those times I connect to other mainframes," Rommie answered.

Harper shrugged. "I guess I am another mainframe now, deep down," he offered.

"I never expected that, so much going on inside of you, everything is so erratic, it was invigorating," Rommie answered with amazement.

"You discover chaos inside Harper's mind and you're surprised?" Tyr frowned. "A brain the size of a planet and yet you've only just realised that the boy is an example of chaotic," he muttered with disbelief.

"Now tell me what happened here, that caused Harper to collapse like he did?" Rommie asked accusingly towards Tyr.

"I simple moved him into position to begin a simple workout and he pushed me away," Tyr answered.

"I touched him," Harper spoke with a shallow voice, clearly remembering as he stared at his hand.

"That was all?" Rommie asked. "We are analysing the feeds so we will discover the truth."

"Then that will be your truth," Tyr stated confidently.

"It brought everything back," Harper now spoke with fear. "Touching Tyr, I was suddenly overwhelmed with everything I know about ubers, and more, I couldn't focus so I guess I collapsed, I wasn't expecting the complete works of Nietzscheans in ten seconds, and the extended hardcore version."

"How did touching Tyr cause that reaction in you?" Rommie was curious.

"I don't know," Harper admitted, and looked once more at the palm of his right hand bewildered. "Maybe my implants, the one in my hand, activate my memories and lets be fair I have a whole shit load of those inside this head on ubers, even if they don't directly involve Tyr."

"Your brain is untrained to filter the information you see," Rommie deduced. "At the moment it just brings everything at once in a rush, no wonder you collapsed. We should go and see Hohne, and maybe analyse the implants further to see if we can adjust the settings to make things less hectic for you."

"You understand," Harper realised, with some hope. "Of course you know what its like, this is what its like for you?"

"Not entirely, as you programmed sub-routines into my matrix that allowed me to control the parameters of the knowledge I recall," Rommie explained.

"Harper is not a machine," Tyr reminded the android.

"Aren't I?" Harper shrugged.

"You are more human than android," Tyr countered. "A few implants should not change you to the point that you require sub-routines."

"But my head feels so full, not like when I had that library in there that was just new stuff, new freaky stuff admittedly but stuff I didn't know or experience, but its like everything I remember or know is in the forefront, my whole life is right there," Harper gestured to the front of his head. "Stuff I'd forgotten, wanted to forget, stuff I don't even recall but must have happened and then the mindless crap I know, with the other stuff I know, I can't take it it's too distracting," Harper stressed and looked at Rommie for support.

"It's true, at this moment that is the case and I have seen that, but I also believe that the parameters could change to benefit you, and enable a more manageable interface," Rommie concluded. "We need to speak to Hohne."

"I can't even begin to take in that Hohne is here, alive," Harper stressed, and took a deep breath.

"I need to take you to med deck," Rommie stated.

"The boy can take himself to med deck," Tyr stated, growing tired of the pampering.

"The boy can also talk for himself and I have no objections to the beautiful Rommie taking me, it's better than walking with you," Harper answered with shortness.

Tyr just shook his head. "Just remember you need to return here to do your workout, your human body still requires maintenance, don't forget what you are."

"A lowly kludge?" Harper returned. "Think again, uber," Harper then just smiled as Rommie escorted him out of the gym.

Tyr frowned but showed little reaction to Harper's words, as he prepared some weights to use until the human returned.

TBC


	25. Chapter 25

Part 25

"He'll be ok, right?" Beka tentatively asked as she walked with Trance and Rommie down one of Andromeda's endless corridors.

"Hohne believes so," Rommie answered. "Right now we feel that he was nothing more than an experiment on Sinti, the implants were designed to test him, and to his limits so hopefully all that is required is a few adjustments so Harper can learn to control the implants, rather than the other way around," Rommie finished.

"I am concerned that he is not strong enough," Trance spoke up. "Already the Persieds have added fail safes to his human organs, to counter act the stress but I am not sure it's enough," she added with concern.

"I'm sure he will be fine once the implants are causing him less stress and are set to more manageable limits," Rommie countered.

"I hope so," Trance simply returned.

"He seems so distracted," Beka offered. "It's like he's trapped inside his own body."

"Some time is needed for the adjustment, and Harper has had a lot to deal with lately," Rommie frowned. "I will help him as much as I am able whilst he adjusts to the implants, I feel as if I have more of a connection to Harper now, and it's almost comforting for me."

"Really?" Beka checked, and Trance also looked at Rommie.

"When we held hands earlier, we were inside each other's mind, it was overwhelming at first but then familiar," Rommie answered with confusion. "I believe Harper is very able to adjust to such an existence, I didn't feel fear from him, just confusion and once he passes that hurdle he should have no problems embracing his new found skills."

"He wasn't designed to be at one with machines," Beka stated.

"Then maybe he was designed incorrectly in the first instance," Rommie answered.

"He was born human, and we should not have put him in a position that this was ever done to him, I'm sorry but I can't shift this feeling that we've made a huge mistake in letting this be done to Harper," Beka argued. "You had issues remember, Rommie, you refused to agree to letting the Persieds operate once we got them to agree, you returned to this ship rather than witness what you said would be bad for Harper, so what's changed?"

"Harper was unconscious and unawares of what was being done to him, I did not agree with that," Rommie countered. "He never agreed to the procedure being carried out, the choice was taken out of his hands because you, Dylan and Tyr thought you had a right to decide for him, born out of guilt for what you did to him, essentially the decision to go through with the procedure was not Harper's choice, but yours and I disagreed with that."

"We got caught up, the Persieds were trying to get out of doing the procedure at all and we knew how devastated Harper had been to be refused the first time, so when they finally agreed and gave us just a few hours to decide, we took the decision to do it, thinking Harper might not ever forgive us if we hadn't, it wasn't our fault he was unconscious!" Beka returned with force.

Rommie stopped and stared at Beka. "Wrong, it was your fault he was unconscious."

Trance saw the shock register on Beka's face and stepped forward. "Why are you saying these things, Rommie? You know it was an accident and no ones fault."

There was silence for a moment before Rommie spoke again. "Beka wanted to know what had changed and those were my initial thoughts, but now I don't think that, and I don't think it was wrong to go through with the procedure," she answered calmly.

"Why?" Beka numbly asked, still shocked by Rommie's earlier words.

"Even in the confusion that is his mind right now Harper was still able to make the connection with me without any problems, essentially through all that madness his natural gift to communicate with machines was clear," Rommie answered. "We would have been wrong to deny him this chance to fulfil his potential, and we all know that the other option would have destroyed him."

Beka looked down, and then sighed. "If you're trying to tell me that what I did to him in that conduit was fate, to lead him to this point in some weirded out destiny," Beka paused still in shock, to collect her thoughts.

"Don't make this about you, when it is only about Harper," Rommie interrupted.

Beka relaxed, and then smiled at Rommie. "I was going to say that finally I feel a little better about things, if what you say is true and Harper now has a chance to do even greater things."

"I do believe that," Rommie smiled.

"If it means anything, Beka, so do I," Trance added softly with a smile.

"I need to see it to believe it, but I have hope now and that's something right?" Beka smiled.

Rommie nodded her head and then looked to one side, before looking back at Beka and Trance. "Harper is nearby, and he's alone, I think we should check that he is ok."

Beka and Trance agreed, and followed Rommie to the Obs deck where they found Harper sat in one of the corners on the deck. His eyes were closed and he looked at peace, whilst hardly moving.

"Harper?" Beka spoke up when he didn't acknowledge them.

"Hey," Harper murmured, sounding relaxed and calm but his eyes remained closed.

"Do you wish to be left alone?" Rommie asked. "Do you need anything?"

"I just needed some space, no distractions but now you're here you can stay," Harper offered, finally opening his eyes. "You don't have to tread lightly around me you know, I'm ok, just a little wired," Harper frowned tiredly. "So to speak."

The women saw their cue and joined Harper on the floor, forming an impromptu circle as they all stared at each other for a moment.

"How are you feeling?" Beka asked.

Harper shrugged. "A bit better, seeing Hohne again was odd, can't quite get my head round that one yet," he frowned unsure. "But essentially he just told me to stop fighting the implants, and it makes sense, you know?" he offered with some hope, and a nervous laugh. "He's going to try and figure out a way to make them less intrusive, so I can function properly again without all this noise."

"It's nice to see you sounding more like your old self again," Trance smiled.

"No more fits," Rommie added.

"Yeah, won't be missing those," Harper agreed, and smiled as he looked at each of them in turn. "Finally feels like things are going to go back to normal, or as normal as normal gets around here."

"Do you think you will get use to those implants?" Beka asked.

"I have to."

"But you said you couldn't think," Beka remembered.

Harper looked at Rommie and smiled. "I just need to get control of the information in my head, Rommie was right, I just need some training," he answered with amusement. "Hey and you know I was thinking about how much I would kill for a Sparky earlier, so I'm getting there, I'm thinking again."

"You seriously worried me there," Beka admitted, and there was an awkward silence before Harper moved forward and took Beka's hand into his own, and closed his eyes. "Harper?"

"Leave him," Rommie stopped Beka from removing her hand.

They observed as Harper's face bore a smile, and then he lightly laughed before he took a deep breath and snapped his eyes open, releasing his hand. "Whoa, mostly good, up until that conduit incident," he managed and then smirked manically.

"What were you just doing?" Beka asked.

"When we touched before I just got facts, I've since discovered that when my hand comes into contact with something I'm familiar with, my mind can become flooded with information, it's like I can scan you now," Harper attempted to explain. "Before Hohne removes that device I just wanted to see what you meant to me," he shrugged, a little embarrassed.

"You're having that function removed?" Rommie checked.

"It's not natural and it's kind of freaky for me," Harper explained. "I don't want to have nightmares every time I shake hands with people who directly or indirectly I have history with," Harper offered. "I mean, for example my head will explode if I ever meet Rev again and accidentally touch him! It's not a cool feature."

"Do me!" Trance asked, and offered her hand.

"You sure?" Harper checked.

"Harper, maybe you shouldn't encourage overloading your mind until you have more control," Rommie warned, and looked at Trance.

"No, actually this could be interesting," Harper was eager now as Trance scooted forward.

"I won't hurt him," Trance explained confidently, and watched as Harper took her hand into his own. Immediately Harper's eyes closed and his head fell back and his body tensed.

"Harper?" Beka moved forward, and then looked at Trance who showed a little concern. "Trance, what's going on?" Trance couldn't respond, as her own body tensed and her eyes closed. "Rommie we have to break this up!" Beka panicked and attempted to separate their hands.

Rommie moved forward and took over and managed to finally separate their hold and the both of them fell back onto the deck, registering shock in their expressions. Harper held his hand close to his chest and just looked at Trance numbly, who in turn seemed unsure.

"What the hell was that?" Beka demanded.

Trance stared at Harper with wonder. "I'm sorry, Harper," she stressed before quickly getting to her feet and leaving.

"Harper?" Beka checked, and then took his hand and she saw fresh burn marks on his palm from his hold with Trance. "What the hell?"

"It's ok," Harper dismissed, as his senses caught up with him. "I definitely don't want to keep that feature," he added, still catching his breath.

"What did you see?" Rommie was curious.

"My future, I think, or my past, I'm not sure," Harper attempted to explain. "Just flashes," he narrowed his eyes. "I know what Trance is," he then revealed with some shock.

"What?" Beka asked showing her own confusion. "What is she?"

Harper was already shaking his head. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you, and you know I don't think she wanted me to see that, I saw too much, she underestimated what I could do now so it wouldn't be fair to tell you what I saw but it was good, Beka, I'm sure it was good," he added, still a little dumfounded.

"It's ok," Beka assured Harper and helped him to sit up again, embracing him to help him calm down. "The sooner you can control what you have the better."

"I feel it will benefit us all when he can," Rommie agreed, and then took Harper's hand to check the damage. "Minor burns, nothing to be worried about but you should bath your hand in cold water just as a precaution, and to ease the pain."

"Come on, get up," Beka took it upon herself to ensure Harper followed the medical advice from Rommie.

Harper quickly got to him feet and turned to Rommie. "Rommie, go and make sure Trance is ok and tell her I'm fine, please? Tell her I won't say a word, and when she's ready we can talk, will you do that?" Harper asked rapidly.

"Of course," Rommie agreed, and watched as Beka walked with Harper to go and bathe his hand.

* * *

"How do you plan to control him?"

Dylan looked up at Hohne's question with confusion. "Control him?"

"You're his captain, but he will have great power on board this ship," Hohne explained.

"Harper has always had control of this ship, he's the engineer, nothing has changed," Dylan dismissed.

"A lot has changed," Hohne returned, and got to his feet. "Young Harper is no longer weak, his body and mind are strong now, stronger than ever before."

"His immune system?" Dylan checked.

"Fixed, additional implants now regulate his blood and nutrient distribution, he's been upgraded," Hohne spoke as he surveyed the notes that lay scattered on Dylan's desk.

"A fit and healthy, strong Harper," Dylan considered with a frown.

"And one whose intelligence has been greatly increased, the capacity to learn much faster and smoother now," Hohne added.

"He is still human, right?"

"Only technically, so to speak," Hohne laughed at his own humour, and Dylan couldn't hide the smirk. "If Harper had a worth before, it's now been greatly increased and you should take care to protect him, not only from others but from himself."

"Can you help?" Dylan asked, knowing Harper always responded well to Hohne, and carried a great respect for the Persied scientist.

"I will soon have to return to Sinti, being classified as dead has put rather a dent in my social standing that I need to rectify," Hohne admitted.

"I understand," Dylan agreed. "Is he going to be ok otherwise, with the trauma?"

"He is strong, and already is making progress," Hohne smiled. "All I ask is that you look after him, and no more forgetting who he is."

"I don't think we're in any hurry to forget Seamus Harper again," Dylan sighed, then watched as Hohne made his excuses and left Dylan's office.

* * *

Tyr held his hands up and encouraged Harper to strike his palms, a series of blows from the human followed alternating between Tyr's hands. He was helping Harper regain his strength after being laid out for weeks, and already Tyr could see an improvement.

"Put your body behind the punch," Tyr advised, and felt the punches getting stronger with each blow as Harper was put through his workout. "You are stronger, correct?" Tyr asked finally.

"I feel stronger," Harper answered between breaths, as the sweat dripped down his face and he continued to strike Tyr's palms.

"Ok, stop," Tyr ordered and Harper immediately relaxed and then grabbed some water. "Your stamina and strength has been greatly improved with the implants."

"All those aches and pains I just used to feel, you know," Harper began. "They have gone, stuff I've had since I was a kid. I finally feel alive and it feels weird, when I breathe it feels so fresh, just everything feels better."

"So for all the bad they did, the Persieds also did well," Tyr observed.

"I guess," Harper shrugged. "Thanks."

"Thanks?" Tyr questioned.

"For making me aware of this procedure, the implants, giving me this new lease of life," Harper explained, as he returned his water bottle to the floor. "I'd have been disabled now if you hadn't found out about the Persied research."

"I should also apologise," Tyr offered without emotion.

"Look, I know those six or seven weeks sucked, but I don't blame you for what happened on Sinti and it's all forgotten now, I have so much more to be grateful for," Harper rapidly explained.

"My apology is more to do with no realising your potential earlier, and your worth, before that incident when we forgot you, I didn't truly appreciate your capabilities," Tyr offered.

"What?" Harper was confused. "After everything I've done on this ship it took you forgetting who I was to appreciate me?"

"I respected that you were a genius of sorts, and that you single handedly kept a High Guard Warship functional, maybe took it for granted, but I never appreciated your other abilities to fight, and to survive," Tyr responded.

"Yeah, because, hell Earth was a panic I just sailed through with luck," Harper sighed. "Tyr, you can be dumb sometimes, you know that?"

Tyr immediately reached for Harper who just as quickly deflected the attack and they both ended up holding each other off, as they squared up to each other. Harper's eyes gave away both his fear and surprise at his strength and reactions, but Tyr only smiled at the development.

"My offer still stands," Tyr stated in a hushed whisper.

"Is privacy mode invoked?" Harper checked unsure, his eyes darting upwards.

"I never let the ship see my work outs, or training," Tyr stated in response.

"Ok," Harper considered. "I'm guessing by offer you mean what you said before, when you thought I was some hacker?" Harper asked.

"We'd make a formidable team," Tyr stated.

"An uber and a kludge?" Harper frowned, not impressed.

"You're no longer a kludge, or human," Tyr reminded him.

Harper pushed himself out of Tyr's hold and backed away, his eyes locked on the dark expression Tyr now wore. "You being serious?" he checked with hesitancy.

"I'm not one to joke," Tyr answered, as he crossed his arms. "I'm tiring of Captain Hunt's hopeless crusade; I have other matters of greater importance to deal with."

"What makes you think I care?" Harper asked.

"You had the chance to belittle me, to dishonour my name but you chose to instead save me that, and erase those recordings when you defeated me with just a whistle," Tyr stated calmly.

"Because," Harper paused and took a deep breath. "I did that to protect myself, I know I can be a nasty piece of work when I need to be," Harper shrugged and looked away. "People don't need to see that side of me on this ship."

"That side of you is who your truly are, who you were on Earth, the reason you survived," Tyr argued.

"It's that side of me that you want to encourage?" Harper looked back at Tyr with sudden aggression. "The answer is no."

"Why?"

Harper moved away and shook his head. "I escape Earth to escape that way of life, and that existence."

"What better way to seek revenge against those ubers that made your life hell, that make you weak and killed your family, than to join the pride that will rise to rule all Nietzscheans," Tyr then suggested.

"Join a Nietzschean pride?" Harper scoffed at the suggestion and shook his head. "I'd rather die in hell first, there's no way I'd dishonour my family and all they stood for by joining ubers," Harper returned and then paused. "So which pride are you talking about anyway, are you getting married?"

"Kodiak," Tyr announced.

"That's a pride of one," Harper stressed unimpressed, and gestured to Tyr.

"I have at least twenty now, and one thing no other pride has," Tyr paused seeing he had Harper's full attention. "The direct descendant of Drago Museveni; the one who will rise to rule all Nietzscheans."

"That would really kick the Drago Kazov's butt," Harper realised knowing the impact of Tyr's words, and seemed to be considering the connotations.

"Give it some thought, I'm not going anywhere immediately," Tyr stated and left Harper alone in the gym, deep in thought.

TBC


	26. Chapter 26

Part 26

Hohne quickly backed away and waited until calm had been restored before approaching Harper with caution.

"Temper tantrums will not help you," Hohne warned.

"They sure make me feel better," Harper snapped and then let his head drop for a moment as he composed his breathing. "It's just I should be getting this," he then sighed.

"It takes time," Hohne assured the young engineer. "It's almost like you have some mental block, something preventing you progressing," he then considered.

"I'm never going to be able to jack in at this rate, I can't even control myself," Harper seethed and then moved to sit down, putting his head in his hands.

"Give it time, Harper," Hohne repeated.

"I've given it time, Hohne, how long does it take?" Harper asked, looking at the Persied with frustration.

Hohne could only stare back at the human, and his expression told Harper that he too felt it was taking Harper too long to get the basics of his new found skills. "After today you will not have me on board to guide you, all I ask is that you try and get past this obstacle," Hohne encouraged.

"What if I can't?" Harper asked with genuine concern.

"Don't be silly," Hohne chuckled. "I know you can do this, you simply have to relearn how to think."

"Is that all?" Harper frowned, and looked away.

Hohne moved closer to Harper. "Let's try one more time. Now focus, and remember a time from your past, and allow the memories to surface."

Harper took a deep breath and followed Hohne's instructions, then suddenly tensed and his eyes closed to the memories. Hohne looked on and tried to determine if Harper was remembering good or bad times from the expression he now wore, and it seemed once again to be an unpleasant memory, so Hohne quickly continued. "Now like you would a computer file, you need to gain control of what you are seeing, imagine taking that memory like you would remove a quantum chip," Hohne explained with care. "Anything you don't want to see, banish it from your thoughts as you would any bad memory, only think of it three dimensionally and take it away."

Harper tensed once again, and seemed to be making progress but Hohne became concerned by the grimace Harper now wore, and when Harper began shaking his head Hohne knew the young genius had once again become distracted, and had failed.

"Harper!" Hohne lightly shook the human, who failed to response, falling to his own nightmares before Hohne shouted loudly enough and Harper snapped out of his mind. In shock and with built up anger Harper pushed Hohne to one side and kicked out at his own failure, with his frustration hitting a new high.

"I can't do it! My mind hates me, probably for what I've done to it!" Harper stressed angrily, thrashing about at any inanimate object he could attack.

"Let's take a break, take your mind off things," Hohne suggested and encouraged Harper to take a seat. Harper settled down, clearly unhappy and Hohne decided to engage in small talk. "Harper, what happened immediately after, you know, I died?" Hohne casually asked.

Harper took a deep breath and just shrugged. "I don't remember much myself, by that point the eggs were almost hatched and I just remember pain," he offered. "Rekeeb drew a gun, I remember that," he then offered.

"Oh my," Hohne reacted.

"He was going to destroy the machine so that you wouldn't die, we figured if the machine was never activated it could never do what it did to time," Harper remembered. "But Trance threw the switch before anyone could stop her, and confirmed what we thought was your death and it saved me," Harper frowned and then looked at Hohne. "She knew," he then figured. "She knew you weren't dead," he paused to consider what he now realised. "I gave her such a hard time when she changed and stuff, but she knew all along," he then shrugged distantly.

"In hindsight, it was a good thing that she didn't listen to anyone," Hohne responded. "It would have been terrible to have lost you to that unfortunate encounter with the Magog," Hohne added.

"My loss wouldn't have been the end of the world, it's not like I've done anything major since I was saved," Harper frowned, and looked at his hands.

"And why not?" Hohne asked. "I would have thought a second chance at life would have spurred you on after you almost died," Hohne offered.

"Can we quit talking about bad stuff?" Harper asked with annoyance, turmoil registering on his face. "At least till I can control my brain?"

"Of course, I'm sorry," Hohne offered quickly. "Tell me about something good in your life, something that won't upset you."

"What?" Harper questioned.

"I'm interested, and I don't want to dwell on the bad so tell me something good," Hohne encouraged.

"Not much of that in my life," Harper sighed. "The highlight of my childhood was the day I found some comics," Harper half smiled, and then looked sad. "I can barely remember any good times."

"Try, for me," Hohne requested.

Harper concentrated and then began to smile. "The day I met Woody," he beamed. "That was unreal, before that day I seriously thought all I had to live for was the day I would die, but Woody caught me making shrillers and told me I could do a lot better than that and he was right."

"We have Woody to thank for your talent?" Hohne asked.

"You have my parents to thank for my natural born talent, but Woody opened my eyes to the universe outside my ghetto," Harper smiled. "He took the hurt away."

"The hurt?" Hohne was confused.

"You ever been to Earth?" Harper asked, and saw Hohne shake his head. "It's not nice," Harper shrugged, and began to absently fiddle with the laces on his booted foot, as he continued. "Everyday you just wanted to survive, its all you wanted and you cared about nothing else than your own survival and then maybe as an afterthought those around you, but when it boiled down to it, you would always think one less mouth to feed whenever one of your own fell."

"That's terrible," Hohne stressed.

"Only time I didn't was for ma and pa," Harper quickly added. "But every day, every hour, pain and misery was a constant."

Harper was lost in his own thoughts for a moment before he continued. "After twenty years of that you would think nothing else could hurt me," Harper began before his composure shifted slightly to one of anger. "But what has happened to me since I walked onto this ship, the radiation poisoning, that damn library, the Magog, and then what they did to me, my own friends," Harper took a deep breath and then closed his eyes. "It's just not fair, after everything else I shouldn't have had to of faced that, these people were my friends and they," Harper paused and emotions threatened.

"I think we may have found your mental block," Hohne offered quietly.

"I've tried to just forget it, I didn't want to make a fuss, but it's always there, right there," Harper stressed with anger clear now, missing Hohne's realisation so lost in his own thoughts now. "I keep feeling Dylan shooting me, I keep feeling the fear of Tyr hunting me down and then Beka," Harper took a needed deep breath. "She did this to me," Harper gestured to his head.

"You need to accept the implants," Hohne calmly spoke. "Meaning you also have to accept what happened that made you need them, to save your life once again."

"I just want to forget," Harper returned, staring off into the distance unable to look at Hohne.

"Not good, this is not good at all," Hohne got to his feet and moved over to the notes he had taken from the scientists who had worked on Harper. "Harper, you can not force your mind to forget, it can't be done, if you have been attempting to do this since the implants were activated, oh dear," Hohne stressed, as he continued to the read the notes. "They should have guided you, they should have done evaluations, assessments," he stressed, glancing at Harper and then his papers.

"What's the problem?" Harper got to his feet, suddenly becoming aware of Hohne's anxiety.

"There is no command for forget, you can't make a machine forget," Hohne stated firmly.

"What are talking about?" Harper was confused.

"You can't forget, machines can not forget!" Hohne returned with frustration.

"I'm not a machine," Harper returned with force.

"You can delete, and you can store, but you can not simply forget, oh it's no wonder you have struggled, you have not been given any prior or adequate training, this could get complicated," Hohne panicked as he continued to read the notes. "They failed to do the most important procedure in this kind of treatment, they failed you with their lack of basic care and attention, it's no wonder they fitted the on off switch, simple solution to a much larger problem."

Harper looked at Hohne with concern. "They didn't want to do the operation full stop," Harper revealed.

"They didn't?" Hohne's attention was suddenly caught as he stopped and stared at the human.

"Nah, they said I wasn't a suitable candidate, being just a kludge from Earth, they were concerned about their technology being put inside of me, I wasn't cool enough," Harper returned to his seat and sat down, bringing his hands up to his face.

"They were right."

Harper looked at Hohne trying to hide his horror, but at the same time curious to know why his friend had made such a damning statement. "They were right? Are you saying I'm too dumb to have this implants? That it's too good for a kludge"

"You have so far failed to master the most basic of tasks," Hohne pointed out sadly.

"I've tried!" Harper snapped, getting to his feet again.

"Try does not equal success," Hohne returned.

Harper appeared suddenly down beat. "So that's my problem? I'm not smart enough for this, I'm just a stupid human?" he gestured, any confidence or hope quickly deserting him.

"Do you really believe that?" Hohne asked.

Harper looked confused as he stared back at Hohne. "No, but," he looked lost as he glanced around. "I know I can do this but I just don't know how."

"Your major obstacle is accepting what happened on board this ship that damaged your brain, to accept that your friends wanted to hurt you, and they succeeded," Hohne spoke calmly, making Harper aware of the situation.

"And if I don't, then that's it?" Harper asked.

"Pretty much," Hohne agreed. "Right now your brain is holding onto those memories because you want it to, you can't get past them to the point they are distracting you. They are making you feel like you don't deserve any better than what your friends did to you and that is why those implants are not working for you, but against you," Hohne explained. "You've been given an upgrade that no human has had to my knowledge, and it means that you have to stop thinking like a human and more like a machine. Memories will no longer fade or be forgotten, they will be stored and recalled, archived even," Hohne added, and he knew Harper was finally grasping the bigger picture from the expression he now wore.

"Doesn't mean they were right to think I wasn't smart enough for these implants," Harper argued lightly. "I might just be human but I'm fricking smarter than any human before me, so I can do this."

"Not right now you can't," Hohne spoke quietly, and moved away.

"I can, and I will prove you all wrong," Harper stressed defiantly.

"They were right in the sense that you were not of sound mind, but they failed to give you a proper psychological examination, a standard requirement," Hohne sighed. "Now I know your mind state I would have also rejected your request to have these implants, you should not have had those implants whilst you still had issues that you needed to work through, human emotional issues that could disrupt the implants energies and possibly do more harm than good," Hohne stated firmly.

"So you would have just sent me away," Harper gestured, with a hint of anger.

"I would have requested that you work through your issues before contemplating surgery," Hohne responded.

"I was dying," Harper mumbled, turning away downcast and finding a seat. "The attacks were getting worse, I was barely conscious and you would have let me die, or remain brain damaged?"

"They had the time," Hohne insisted.

"I didn't," Harper stressed.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not sure what I can tell you, mentally you were not ready for this surgery," Hohne sighed.

"So that it, there's no hope for me?" Harper asked sadly.

"There's hope," Hohne offered a brief smile. "But its up to you, and it won't be easy because you have to not only fight your implants that will be bringing up every bad memory you own, because subconsciously you believe you deserve nothing better than to remember, you also have to fix that same mind to stop doing that to you, and to accept what happened."

"I don't know if I can," Harper admitted with fear. "This goes beyond anything I've had to do before, we're not talking about a machine here, it's my brain! I've never had to fix that before, there's no manual!"

Hohne quietly watched Harper with sadness. "I need to go now, and return to Sinti," Hohne offered.

"Now?" Harper got to his feet. "You tell me that and then you just go?"

"Harper, I can't help you until you're ready to be helped," Hohne responded.

"I'm ready to be helped!"

Hohne got to his feet and just shook his head, before replying. "You're not ready, and I would suggest you talk to those who did those horrors to you and that you stop fighting your feelings on the subject."

"I don't know what I have to do," Harper admitted. "You have to stay, you have to help me."

"I can't order your mind to co-operate, only you can do that," Hohne shrugged.

"Fine, whatever," Harper began to walk away. "I don't need your help, I don't need anyone's help, I'll just fix this on my own so don't worry about me!"

"Harper," Hohne called after him but he was already walking out of the machine shop, and Hohne could only sigh and hope that some of what he said had sunk in, as he began to fear for Harper's future once again.

TBC


	27. Chapter 27

Part 27

Dylan stared at the closed hanger bay doors, unable to move as his troubled mind contemplated the situation. He knew someone was close by, and he sensed it was Beka before she spoke.

"What did Hohne say?"

Dylan snapped out of his daze and turned to her with a brief smile. "Nothing," Dylan offered and began to move away, having just seen the Persied scientist leave the ship to return to Sinti.

"Don't lie, Dylan, you know I can see right through you when you try to hide something from me," Beka countered.

"Walk with me," Dylan gestured and Beka didn't question him as she got into step and they began walking down the corridor. "It was about Harper."

"Big surprise," Beka remarked.

"Hohne asked me what my plans were for controlling Harper," Dylan stated and glanced at Beka to see her reaction, he wasn't disappointed on seeing the flash of rage.

"What?" Beka snapped.

"He was concerned as to how we would cope with Harper's new found skills, how we'd keep him on the straight and narrow," Dylan quickly explained.

"Oh," Beka offered, clearly taken aback. "I mean, I hadn't really thought," she stumbled before Dylan continued.

"Only just then before he left, Hohne didn't take me aside to continue that train of thought, now he's more worried about Harper's state of mind," Dylan frowned. "He was saying that he now believes the implants should never have been given to Harper."

"Why?" Beka could only ask as her gut twisted, and she tried to remain level headed.

"Because he fears Harper is mentally unstable, and the implants could have made it worse," Dylan relayed and then sighed. "I'm really hoping that Hohne's fears are unfounded, but I can't help thinking that in our eagerness to help Harper, we might have just made things worse."

"Rommie tried to warn us," Beka remembered how the android had distanced herself from them all after the decision was made. "But you know Hohne, the guy panics if the heating is up by two notches, he could just be over reacting to Harper's slow recovery, I mean, we all expected Harper to just bounce back and its hit us all hard that he hasn't, that he's struggled," Beka frowned.

Dylan stopped and tried to compose himself before speaking. "I just don't know what to do," he admitted. "It feels as though that one stupid mindless day is going to haunt all of us for a very long time."

"We still have Harper, and we still have a Commonwealth to build, maybe we should just try and focus on that?" Beka shrugged.

"Yeah," Dylan reluctantly agreed. "We just need to focus," he repeated and continued to walk with Beka.

* * *

Harper slowed up and hesitated outside the gym, hearing the sounds of a work-out from within. With a deep breath and a quick glance upwards, Harper moved towards the entrance before he heard the sound of someone clearing their throat behind him. Pausing, Harper slowly turned and saw Rommie stood a few metres away.

"Rom Doll," Harper exclaimed awkwardly. "Why did you learn to mimic someone clearing their throat?" he absently asked, sensing an awkward tension and realising he was on edge.

"For moments like these," Rommie answered calmly, her stare burning into Harper.

"Ok," Harper returned, his gut twisting slightly knowing Rommie was acting strange.

"Why are you here, you do not have a session with Tyr today," Rommie asked.

"I just," Harper hesitated. "I needed to see the big guy, about," he paused and shrugged. "Just something I needed to ask him, Tyr, just something, you know?" he finally finished and there was an awkward silence for a moment as Rommie assessed him, and Harper knew deep down why he was really there causing his gut to twist some more.

"I want to help," Rommie then spoke.

"Help?" Harper questioned attempting to appear casual and at ease, but failing with every word he spoke.

"We have a connection now, I want to help you," she responded.

"I don't know," Harper showed anxiety to her words.

"Harper," Rommie spoke and got his complete attention. "I want to help you, like you have helped me."

"Look, I appreciate it, honest I do babe, and you know usually I would love nothing more, but I really need to see Tyr about something," Harper gestured to the gym.

"No you don't," Rommie spoke firmly, and Harper narrowed his eyes.

"I don't?" Harper responded a little unsure. "Why?"

"Because you have no business here today," Rommie answered calmly.

"Ok," Harper considered her words and began to wonder exactly what she knew, and if she did actually know why he needed to speak to Tyr. "So what do you suggest?"

"That you let me help you," Rommie went to take Harper's hand but he swiftly moved it from her, digging them deep into the pockets of his cargos. "Harper, I can help you, so you don't have to worry about making mistakes, big mistakes."

"Big mistakes, eh?" Harper responded, regaining his composure and trying to back away without it being too obvious.

"You're going to be ok," Rommie assured him as she instead put her hand to the back of Harper's neck and he immediately froze. "I promise," Rommie continued and it took Harper a moment to realise Rommie's voice was inside his head but before he could react or respond he felt a strong force push his body back and connection was lost. By the time he regained his senses he felt himself being held up by a strong pair of hands, and a loud discussion taking place.

"You will release Harper!" Rommie demanded.

"I will do no such thing until I am sure you are not damaging him further!" Tyr's voice boomed back.

"Tyr?" Harper suddenly realised and scrambled away from Tyr, pushing himself to a safe distance away. "What the hell?"

"I came out of the gym on hearing voices and found the ship overpowering you, and you looked in pain," Tyr offered with a shrug to hide his sudden awkwardness.

"No pain," Harper stressed immediately. "Shit, Tyr what the hell are you doing?" he asked with confusion.

"Protecting his interests," Rommie spoke knowingly, stood with her arms crossed.

"The walls do have ears, even when privacy is supposedly granted," Tyr challenged the ship.

"Your recent actions have raised suspicions, and rightly so," Rommie stated.

Harper looked between Rommie and Tyr, seeing the standoff and feeling completely confused. "What are you both talking about?" he asked, even though he had a fair idea, he wanted to act ignorant.

"Have you made your decision?" Tyr asked towards Harper.

Harper was about to protest but felt resigned to the fact that Rommie already knew full well what Tyr had offered him, he recognised the expression he had programmed into her for such times. "Yeah," Harper frowned and glanced at Rommie who didn't seem confused, confirming his fears.

"Well?" Rommie encouraged.

"It's why I was coming to see you, Tyr," Harper delayed his answer. "I wanted to tell you my decision, in person face to face."

"Well boy?" Tyr now prompted.

Harper glanced at Rommie, and he quickly looked away. "I'm with you, Tyr, I'm in," he spoke quietly.

"What? Harper, no!" Rommie stressed and moved forward.

"I'm going with Tyr," Harper shrugged, backing away and tried to remain casual, but failing. "Rommie it's for the best."

"That is not for the best, Harper, that's suicide!" Rommie challenged. "We can help you, and you need our help, Tyr wants nothing more than disposable assets, he'll use you and then throw you away like trash!"

Instead of making Harper's think, Rommie's words seemed to only make him more determined to justify his decision. "I can't stay, ok, I'm sorry but I can't and Tyr's offered me an escape, a good escape, a chance to kick some uber butt," he stressed but couldn't look Rommie in the eye.

"If it means anything, I will not throw Harper away like trash, he will have an important role within my pride, one of stature and security," Tyr spoke evenly.

"Then I suggest you both make plans to leave sooner rather than later, if you are no longer loyal to me or this crew," Rommie stressed, and her eyes burned into Harper.

"Rommie, it's not like that, I still want to," Harper paused, as he saw Rommie turn and walk away.

"Forget her, your future is not here," Tyr simply said. "We leave tomorrow morning, be ready to go."

"Tomorrow?" Harper checked with shock.

"When a warship tells you to leave sooner rather than later, you are best advised not to hang around to see what happens if you stay," Tyr advised with a hint of amusement.

"But," Harper looked flustered.

"You made your decision, the right decision, don't make this harder than it has to be," Tyr stated, before returning to the gym.

Harper looked around, and took a moment to consider what had just occurred before numbly walking away.

* * *

Beka stared at the Nietzschean as he walked into the office, and greeted both her and Dylan Hunt with just a nod of the head.

"You wished to see me, or shall I just assume the ship has spoken?" Tyr asked.

"When can I expect yours and Mr Harper's resignation, and when were you both planning to tell us?" Dylan asked bluntly.

Tyr remained cool. "I never signed anything to join your mindless crusade, my absence will be all you need to know that I am no longer here."

Beka got to her feet. "I want to know why."

"Why?" Tyr responded unsure.

"I pretty much expected that one day you would up and leave without any fuss, but Harper?" Beka stressed.

"It was his choice."

"You gave him a choice?" Dylan checked.

"Yes," Tyr was growing tired. "Maybe instead of patronising Harper by implying I have somehow twisted him into deciding to follow me, you should be talking to the boy himself."

"When I said you had to help him," Beka stepped closer. "This isn't what I meant, Harper is going no where."

"You will keep him here, against his will?" Tyr looked amused.

"I will make him see sense," Beka stressed.

"The last time you tried to do that you gave the boy brain damage, I wonder what tactics you will use this time," Tyr offered and Beka snapped her attention back to the Nietzschean.

"Low, Tyr, even for you," Beka sneered. "What the hell have we done to make you turn this much on us?"

"Lost your edge and your focus," Tyr stated firmly. "Now if you have finished, I need to arrange for a transport for myself and Harper, for when we leave tomorrow."

"Will never happen, only one person will be leaving, and I hope you have a nice life," Beka snapped and stormed out of the office.

"Tyr, wait up," Dylan ordered before Tyr could leave. "Tell me what's going on, what's really going on."

"I need to follow my own path, I have other responsibilities now," Tyr answered.

"Your son," Dylan offered and Tyr showed the briefest look of surprise before looking away.

"I can not ignore my true path any longer," Tyr offered.

"I understand," Dylan stated calmly. "I've been expecting this, but why do you need Harper?"

"I need to convince, and defeat, certain prides," Tyr shrugged. "Harper has shown me his worth in knowing Nietzschean's weakness, he will be an asset."

"Asset, as in your property?" Dylan checked.

Tyr just glared at Dylan. "You really think Harper would allow himself to become the property of a Nietzschean again? You underestimate him, once again."

Dylan looked away, clearly troubled by Tyr's observation. "This isn't a case of underestimating him, it's about what's best for Harper!"

"I will look out for him," Tyr offered.

"It won't be enough, Tyr, Harper needs help and care right now, throwing him into some battle that means nothing to him is not the solution," Dylan explained.

"Harper needs to get away from here, this ship, and all of you," Tyr bluntly stated. "I have given him that option and he has chosen to take it, I think you should respect his decision."

"It's one thing to respect, another to accept," Dylan stated.

"Harper is not the man you thought he was, that much is very clear," Tyr simply announced. "And if you try to stop him leaving with me tomorrow, do not expect it to be easy."

"Is that a threat, Tyr?" Dylan challenged, staring at the Nietzschean.

"A promise," Tyr answered, before turning to leave the office.

Dylan waited until the door slid closed before sighing, and then calling for Andromeda's attention. Her hologram shimmered into being in front of him.

"I want you to keep a very close eye on Tyr, and on Harper, for the time being we need to consider them potential threats, I will not be blindsided by either of them," Dylan ordered. "Keep this confidential, I don't like doing this but I'm not going to be made a fool of."

"Understood captain," Rommie acknowledged and flickered out of sight.

TBC


	28. Chapter 28

Part 28

On board the Maru there was silence between the three crew members. No one knew what to say as they stared into their own space, within the confines of one of the Maru's side quarters.

Beka glanced at Rommie and Trance, and soon met their concerned gazes. "We can't just stand back and let this happen," Beka broke the silence.

"Harper has made his decision," Trance offered sadly.

"The wrong decision," Beka returned sharply.

"He is confused, and not thinking straight," Rommie stated. "But it's very possible that he's also haunted and traumatised by events that occurred on board the ship, and it could help him to have some time away."

"He's not going on vacation, he's leaving, Rommie, abandoning this mission to go and follow Tyr," Beka got to her feet, clearly troubled. "And I don't feel like I can talk to him anymore, all I see is what I've done to him and I don't feel like I'm in any position to tell him anything, anymore," she frowned.

"Have you tried talking to him?" Trance asked.

"Have any of us?" Beka countered and then took a deep breath. "What if Rommie is right, what if he can't stay? Who are we to force him to remain onboard?"

"His friends?" Rommie shrugged.

There was a noise outside and all three occupants turned their attention to the door just before it slowly opened. They already knew who was outside before they saw Harper step inside.

"Do you need more time to talk about me, or do you mind if I join you?" Harper quietly asked.

The three ladies glanced at each other, and a heavy air of doubt hung in the air as Harper made himself comfy on one of the containers stored in the room.

"Harper, we weren't talking about you as such, we were talking about the situation," Beka offered softly.

"Don't think I won't miss any of you," Harper begun, unable to look at any of them as he stared at his hands. "And don't ask me to explain, just right now I need to do this, I need to go with Tyr."

"You need help and support, do you think you'll get that with Tyr and his pride?" Rommie asked.

"I need time and space, on my own," Harper answered carefully. "I'll get plenty of that, not like I'll be in any hurry to socialise with the ubers."

Trance moved to sit next to Harper, and everyone noticed him flinch. "Harper, you know we all care about you and the only reason we are discussing this is because none of us want to see you go."

"You already know I will though," Harper stared at Trance who noticeably froze before composing herself.

"You can't know that," Trance responded. "I see many things, Harper; no path is the truth until I have walked it."

Harper looked away and shrugged. "It's ok, Trance, won't tell anyone what I saw," he remarked remembering their close encounter, and felt Trance's arm around his shoulders.

"It's really not a concern of mine, not when I'm about to say goodbye to a friend I care about," Trance offered, resting her head on his shoulder. "You need us right now, Seamus, walking away is not the answer."

Harper took a moment to look at Rommie and Beka before returning his attention to his hands. "What Tyr has offered, it just feels right. I need to be away from all this, the Commonwealth and this ship, no offence Rommie," he quickly added. "I'm not sure if this is the right thing to do but I do feel like I can't stay, and you all know why."

"Harper," Beka moved forward now, and knelt in front of her friend, putting her hands over his. "I'm sorry, I know I've already said it a million times but I'll say it a million more times if I have to," she stressed. "I already feel as though I've lost you and with you leaving, it's just confirming that to me. I had hoped above all else that what happened wouldn't change anything but it's changed everything. I do understand though and if you do leave tomorrow just know you can always return, ok?"

"Really?" Harper seemed to brighten.

"Of course, Seamus, I'll never turn my back on you, or forget you," Beka stressed and moved forward to embrace him tightly. After a few moments they broke apart, and Harper seemed to be savouring the moment.

"I know none of you think this is the right thing for me to do," Harper got to his feet. "And if I do come back, feel free to remind me but if feels right to me, right now and I can't ignore that."

Rommie moved to stand in front of Harper, and she took his hand into her own. She felt a resistance and stared at the human intently. "I can't connect."

"Hohne disabled the nodes in my hand," Harper shrugged, seeing a flash of sadness in Rommie's features.

"How is it in there?" Rommie then gestured to Harper's head with concern.

Harper suddenly appeared tired as he frowned, and glanced away from Rommie's stare. "I'm getting there," he offered.

"I don't like the idea of you being away from those who can help you reach that place you need to be," Rommie responded. "Hohne showed concern for your state of mind, for you ability to accept those implants, that should not be ignored."

"Yeah, he was so concerned he couldn't wait to get back to Sinti and leave me to my own devices," Harper sneered and took a deep breath. "But it's ok, he made a lot of sense and I'm getting it now, I'm nearly there and having time and space to figure this stuff out is what I need right now, it's why I have to go."

"We're crowding you?" Beka asked.

Harper barely glanced at Beka before speaking. "Yeah," he simply answered before continuing. "What happened," he simply said not needing to elaborate. "I tried to pretend, tried to move on and I've even tried to feel a part of this crew again but so much has changed, all I end up doing is remembering and that's something no one can help me with here, I need to get away and clear my mind."

"You've hardly given us a chance," Trance responded.

"No more chances," Harper partially snapped his voice suddenly strong. "You know me coming back at all was more than this ship and the Commonwealth deserved, but I did it because I wanted to give you all a chance and it hasn't worked out. I'm sorry, ok? I still consider you all friends but I can't stay here, and I don't think I'll ever be able to explain it but I could be here for another day, a week, a month or even a year and my feelings won't change," Harper took a deep breath. "I can't forget what happened, and that's why I have to go."

"I understand," Beka was the first to speak and the surprise was clear on everyone's faces with her words. "Honestly I do," she added. "I know if the same had happened to me, I wouldn't have come back at all."

"I tried," Harper softly spoke, composing his thoughts. "Hohne said it's my mental block, the reason I can't adapt to these implants like you'd expect me to, and so that's why I have to leave."

"Hohne also suggested that you face up to, and accept what happened, that you talk to those who hurt you," Rommie reminded him.

Harper smirked. "The walls have ears, Tyr's right," he shrugged and sighed. "Rommie, do you ever hear me talking about Earth?"

"No, other than the odd throwaway remark," Rommie answered.

"Because I don't need to, being away from Earth allows me to concentrate on other things. Suggesting I talk about what happened to me on that rock, be honest it's something no one would dare ask me to do, but because it's not right under my nose anymore it doesn't bother me like it once did," Harper explained with some care.

No one spoke now, resigned to the fact that Harper had made his decision and seemed to be fully committed to his belief.

"Just don't hesitate to contact us if you need us to kick Tyr's butt," Rommie now offered.

Harper grinned. "I'll never forget any of you, I promise, and I'd like to think we could still meet up, I'll get leave I'm sure," he extended his arms and Rommie, with Trance soon joining them and finally Beka, they shared a group hug now knowing and accepting that Harper would be leaving in the morning.

* * *

"Anything?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing suspicious at all?" Dylan asked calmly.

"Everything has been above board, Harper's even helped me to understand, me, Trance and Beka," Rommie answered. "Tyr has just communicated with his transport, nothing more."

"So we're not being blindsided?" Dylan checked.

"I'm confident that Tyr and Harper are simply leaving, no ulterior or threatening motives," Rommie stated. "Beka should be taken off duty for a few hours, her goodbye to Harper turned both emotional and a little heated, I hope she doesn't regret her words to Harper, but Trance is with her."

"What happened?" Dylan glanced at Rommie with concern.

"She reacted to Harper's lack of emotion to leaving, he didn't want to hug or say goodbye, he just wanted to leave but I think Beka took that personally," Rommie answered sadly.

"Maybe Harper's approach is for the best, he doesn't see it as a goodbye," Dylan frowned.

"I think Beka expected Harper to change his mind," Rommie then spoke.

"I can understand that, I can't believe I'm losing two members of my crew," Dylan then spoke softly, as they continued to watch the final preparations for the Nietzschean transport to leave. "I also expected Harper to change his mind, I expected a reason to try and stop them both but there's nothing, they really just wanted to leave."

"The Commonwealth transport will arrive in two hours with additional crew to give us support," Rommie informed the captain.

"I'm going to miss them both," Dylan simply responded with distraction, and turned to leave, as Rommie observed the transport leaving the docking bay until it opened the slip-point and disappeared from normal space.

* * *

Two months later

The vast room was filled with Nietzshceans representing a handful of prides, in their hands were an array of alcoholic drinks and scattered about the grand tables were the aftermath of a heady feast. Tyr Anasazi, father of the boy who would one day grow into the man who would lead the united Nietzscheans, observed the gathering, enjoying his new found status and life no longer the outsider and very much a part of the action.

His recently wedded wife sidled up beside him, all smiles on seeing her powerful husband enjoying his time.

"My love, I hope you are happy by this turn out," Tyr gestured.

"All those who are important are here, the prides that matter have joined us and look forward to our united future, with your son at the lead," Tabatha responded, her eyes never leaving Tyr's face.

"The past two months have been of hectic pace but we will now slow down and enjoy our time together, I have achieved what I wanted to achieve to this point," Tyr announced to her. "We have a far greater battle ahead."

"Over throwing the Drago Kazov," Tabatha correctly guessed. "I have seen your plans, of what you have allowed me to see and I see no fault."

"I have the best people working for me, to defeat them," Tyr smiled knowingly.

"It was a master stroke appointing that kludge, a boy who has fought the Dragens all of his life, knows them like no other," Tabatha spoke, as she began to lightly kiss Tyr's neck.

"His name is Harper, I'm sure I have told you this many times," Tyr stated.

"You have, but he remains a kludge, unworthy of a name, let alone the title you have given him," Tabatha responded and gasped as Tyr grabbed her wrist tightly, pulling her away from him.

"You will not refer to Harper by that derogatory name any longer, he is not a kludge," Tyr snapped.

"A cyborg hybrid disgusting being it shall be then," Tabatha remained unrepentant.

Tyr held her gaze and lightly growled. "You dare to defy me?"

"It's the reason you married me, my unruly spirit," Tabatha returned with a knowing smirk.

"That may be so but your continued words against Harper are not welcomed," Tyr stated, letting her go he sat back.

"Your kludge was screaming again last night," Tabatha relaxed next to her husband.

"Bad dreams that's all," Tyr dismissed lightly.

"He is waking the entire household, including your son," Tabatha stated. "We should move him to the outhouse, where he can disturb only the animals."

"Harper is not being moved," Tyr stated.

"Then I would advise you put a lock and a guard on his door before someone decides they would like a quiet restful night's sleep," Tabatha warned.

"Your recommendation has been noted," Tyr offered without reaction.

Tabatha moved forward and looked at her husband with interest. "You really do care about the kludge, don't you?"

"He has a place in this pride, his work so far has been invaluable and will prove vital in defeating the Dragens, I fail to see why people continue to ignore this fact," Tyr stressed. "And I made a promise to old friends, I will protect Harper I owe him that much."

"You owe him?" Tabatha was suddenly intrigued but didn't push. "Then as your first wife, I will honour that debt you have to him and give him the respect you desire, as of now Harper means as much to me as he does to you."

Tyr leaned forward and kissed his wife with passion, before breaking away. "You serve me well, and may he annoy you like he has me so many times," he smiled.

"I have never heard," Tabatha paused. "Harper," she took care to speak the name. "Speak, does the human speak?"

"There was a time he would do nothing else but just lately he has chosen silence to be his preferred state," Tyr frowned. "With your help I hope we can make him feel more comfortable with us here. Give Harper a chance, and you will find he is both loyal and an asset to us and our ambitions."

"Of course, husband, and I will do what I can to make Harper feel at home," Tabatha promised, all her earlier prejudices seemingly gone without a trace.

TBC


	29. Chapter 29

Part 29

Dylan walked onto the Obs deck and found Beka alone with her thoughts in the corner, oblivious to the various groups of people who were casually sitting around in their free time. As Dylan moved through the deck his crew acknowledged him, and showed respect to their captain. Dylan for the most part attempted to ignore the attention as he reached Beka.

"Mind if I join you?" Dylan asked.

Beka sighed and waved a hand to gesture to the spot beside her, and Dylan moved to sit next to her. "So, we're officially on standby to go to the aid of the Drago Kazov?"

"Yes," Dylan answered as he settled down.

"Why?"

"They have agreed to consider our proposal, and join us if we help them now," Dylan answered.

"Bull shit," Beka spat back. "They are running scared."

"And rightly so, in less than two months they have seen their strong hold in the Nietzschean hierarchy dramatically fall," Dylan explained.

"And I want to personally shake Tyr's hand for being a part of that notion," Beka returned. "Instead, we could be fighting him."

"Beka, we can't ignore the progress Tyr has made," Dylan spoke with care. "He is a threat to us, as well as to them."

"I know," Beka admitted. "And that's what's killing me. Did any of us really believe Tyr would make this much of an impact when he left this ship two months ago? Why didn't he tell us he had a son, and that son would unite the prides, why the hell did we let him leave when he could have stayed and worked with us!"

"I knew about his son," Dylan shrugged.

"What?" Beka snapped her head around.

"Commonwealth Intelligence," Dylan frowned and then looked around. "So much has changed," he remarked distantly.

"Tell me about it," Beka agreed. "Dylan, I can't stand beside the Dragens and defend them, not for anything."

"It's not our decision to make," Dylan replied.

"So is it official?" Beka then asked but didn't wait for an answer. "Are Tyr and Harper now officially the enemy?"

"The Kodiak pride are not a part of the Commonwealth and have made no attempt to open negotiations."

"Why would they?" Beka snapped. "Already they have all of the stronger Nietzschean prides on their side, it's only the Dragens left to defeat," Beka frowned. "Two months, that's all its taken and you know in that time Tyr has found a wife as well?"

"I had heard," Dylan nodded his head tiredly.

"Has there been any intelligence, anything at all?" Beka then softly asked.

"Nothing," Dylan already knew to what she was referring. "This ship just hasn't felt the same since they left."

"I miss him," Beka admitted, her emotions breaking. "Not a day has passed where something hasn't reminded me of him. Everything we see before us now is because of that day."

"You can't know that," Dylan objected lightly.

"That day changed our lives, led us down this path and now because of what we did Harper has become the enemy for real, and taken Tyr with him," Beka stated.

"Technically it's the other way around," Dylan pointed out.

"Don't be so sure," Beka offered with a heavy sigh. "Tyr saw something in Harper that day whilst he was under the influence and it was whatever he saw that led him to leave, and take Harper with him."

"Interesting theory," Dylan was forced to admit. "But we can't turn back time."

"We can claim a conflict of interest and just disappear until the ubers have sorted themselves out," Beka suggested.

Dylan took the time to look at Beka, seeing her troubled features. "We can't pretend this isn't happening, if we do then next time we turn around the Kodiaks will be gunning for us, any loyalties Tyr may have had with us have sadly passed."

"I can't fight knowing Harper is among them," Beka finally admitted.

"Then maybe that was what Tyr saw as the true value in Harper," Dylan sighed.

Beka seemed to jolt out of her distressed state as she stared at Dylan, realising his words bore some grain of truth. "How do you think he's getting on?" she asked.

"Hard to say," Dylan returned. "We've had no communication from him, when he told us he would stay in touch and no evidence to even suggest he is still with the Kodiaks, it's as if he's disappeared."

"Those implants were slowly turning him insane, Dylan," Beka stressed. "What if," she began but Dylan stopped her.

"Harper is strong, and he doesn't go down without a fight, of that much I'm certain," he assured her.

Beka took a deep breath. "I'll do whatever the Commonwealth orders, you don't have to worry about that, and you're right about the Kodiaks but I swear, don't make me do anything that might put me directly against Harper because then they have won already."

"I know, I will take care to inform the Commonwealth of our situation," Dylan assured her, before leaving her to her thoughts once again.

* * *

Tabatha slowly approached the kludge, a poor excuse for a life from she considered but she heard her husband's voice in her head and it reminded her of the human's value to their pride. The human was looking at her now, crystal blue eyes staring at her but giving nothing away.

"Seamus Harper," Tabatha stated, using the name her husband preferred she use for the kludge. The human slightly relaxed, and her use of his name seemed to have a positive response, it was almost amusing. "My husband holds a great respect for you, and by default as his first wife I can assure you that the same respect has been transferred to me."

The human seemed to be growing bored already, as his attention returned to the tools he was using on a beaten piece of machinery. Tabatha couldn't help herself as she became a little curious about the kid, at least he looked like a kid but there were signs of wisdom and age about him, in certain expressions and the way he carried out his work fixing the part he held.

"Would you like some water?" Tabatha asked, making an effort and wanting to see some results of her work. Harper nodded his head, and Tabatha acknowledged his acceptance as she walked to the other side of the work shop to where some supplies were stored to get some water for them both.

She heard two loud men enter the workshop, recognising them as Captains in her husband's pride. Gerd and Vandes, she knew of them and their reputation, they were good warriors and they knew how to command their men. Tyr had chosen wisely in these two she considered as she finished pouring the drinks. What she hadn't expected was to hear the sudden yelp from the human and remaining out of sight she turned to see Gerd now holding the human by his hair.

"Did you do as I asked, kludge?"

Tabatha watched as Harper nodded his head frantically, and then pointed to a box just to his right. Vandes moved to the box, as Gerd continued to painfully hold Harper by his hair. The box cover was removed and Vandes pulled out the weapons, he smiled coldly and held the gun nuzzle to the now panic stricken Harper's temple.

"Should we test they work?" Vandes stated sinisterly towards Gerd.

"You know that he's Anasazi's pet, we can't touch him," Gerd sounded disgusted as he pushed Harper to the floor.

"Yeah, we best not ask what favours the kludge did to become so liked by Anasazi," Vandes mocked, and moved in to picked Harper up again but a sound stopped him.

"He saved my husband's life, next question?" Tabatha announced, as she retuned with two glasses of water. "And I do hope you're simply helping Harper to his feet."

Vandes rapidly pulled Harper to his feet and ensured he was balanced before letting the human go and backing away. "He was repairing some of our guns."

"Then you business with him is done, now leave," Tabatha ordered, and she waited until both men, and their guns, had left the workshop before approaching Harper with his water. "Are you ok?"

Harper nodded his head and took the water, his expression once again giving nothing away as he took some calming sips of the drink.

"Thanks."

Tabatha looked at Harper, almost disbelieving that she had heard him speak. "It's ok," she offered, and found a box to sit on leaving Harper to stand unsure close by. "Take a seat, you're allowed breaks," she suggested with amusement.

Harper seemed more anxious to return to work but after some consideration he did as Tabatha asked and found a place to sit.

"Tyr told me you used to talk a lot more, that it was a pain to keep you quiet," Tabatha stated, hoping to coax some words out of him.

The human seemed to be sizing her up, as he looked to talk a couple of times but stopped himself. Finally he sighed, and relaxed some more. "Not got much to say," he offered quietly.

"You have plenty to scream about, at night," Tabatha returned, wondering if he would explain some more about his nightmares but instead she only saw confusion.

"I do?"

"Keeps us up most nights, just screams, like you're being eaten alive," Tabatha recounted. "Tyr told me you were infested with Magog eggs once, so I just assume you are reliving that time?"

Harper seemed genuinely taken aback by the news. "I don't know," he shrugged, before finishing his drink. "Sorry," Harper awkwardly offered.

Tabatha couldn't help the smirk with Harper apologising to her, for what she could only imagine was something that was out of his control, and she knew it was such a human reaction. She looked at Harper and saw him looking back at her, his expression cold. "I'm not laughing at you, just that you feel you've done something wrong that grants the need to apologize," Tabatha explained.

Harper frowned and then continued with his work, as Tabatha looked on in silence. She became fascinated by his motivation, and his ability to almost forget she was there just watching him. Somewhere inside she began to realise that maybe her husband had been right, that Harper was different and she saw him as less of a kludge, a disgrace, and a more interesting subject.

She had been watching him for nearly twenty minutes when she noticed him beginning to pack up. "Let me help," Tabatha offered.

"It's ok," Harper returned and swiftly tidied away his tools and put the fixed units on the collections shelf.

"Do you want to get some food?"

"What?"

"Food, you have to eat and they should be serving dinner now," Tabatha gestured to the exit.

"I eat alone," Harper stated as he moved to the back of the workshop to collect his jacket.

"Can I eat with you?" Tabatha asked.

"Why?"

Tabatha shrugged. "I want to get to know the human that has my husband is making a part of our pride."

"I don't want to be a part of any pride," Harper dismissed, as Tabatha began to walk with him.

"Is it a human thing not to want to mix with the others?" Tabatha asked.

"With ubers," Harper took a deep breath, as if realising who he was with as he backtracked slightly. "I prefer to be alone."

"That's not what Tyr has told me," Tabatha argued. "He says it's only been since you got here that you've been so quiet and withdrawn."

"Don't take offence, but ubers are not my favourite people to hang out with, and you can blame my upbringing," Harper responded.

"You don't want to hang out with me?"

"Tyr's first wife?" Harper questioned. "Why don't I just shoot myself in the head now and save Tyr the ammo later, thanks, but no thanks."

"I don't want you for that, disgusting little man," Tabatha faked her anger, and then smirked as Harper tried to determine how serious she was being. "I just want to get to know you a bit better, so I can help you because helping you pleases my husband."

"I don't need your help," Harper sighed, growing tired of the company as they continued to walk towards the living area of the complex. "Did Tyr put you up for this? Because honestly I know you find me a repulsive mud foot kludge so drop the pretence and do us both a favour by walking away and leaving me alone."

"You're right, that's exactly what I think and it's the reason that up to now I've not given you the time of day," Tabatha admitted and then stared into Harper's eyes. "But I think differently right now, let me call the cook and order the best meal I can scam for you and lets just talk."

"I've done all the talking I want to do," Harper shook his head and began to head towards his quarters.

"We're going to war against the Commonwealth," Tabatha called after him, and Harper froze and turned round slowly.

"We're what?" he asked with confusion.

"The Commonwealth have joined with the Drago Kazov," Tabatha frowned, and saw the spirit fall immediately from the human. "I know your history with them and with the Commonwealth, so right now I think you need someone to talk to, so let me in."

"The Andromeda?"

"Leading the fleet," Tabatha revealed.

"I want to see," Harper returned quickly.

"I'll use my password to show you the confidential files," Tabatha smiled.

Harper half heartedly gestured to Tabatha to catch up with him, and they continued to his quarters.

TBC


	30. Chapter 30

Part 30

"Where were you for the past half hour?" Dylan asked having requested that Beka stay back after their briefing.

"Right here, listening to you," Beka answered tiredly.

"You weren't here, maybe in body but not in mind or spirit," Dylan smiled knowingly.

"Every time you mention Tyr, the Kodiaks, this war with the Dragens I just think of Harper," Beka admitted with a heavy sigh. "I need to know what part he's playing, if any." Dylan lowered his eyes, understanding Beka's dilemma as she continued. "I don't care or give a rats ass about fighting Tyr, but knowing he's dragged Harper into this war bites."

"Harper willingly followed," Dylan reminded her.

"Because he had no where else to run, I really wish I'd just found some courage and taken the Maru with Harper and just disappeared," Beka slammed her hand down on the desk in front of her.

"You know that it's far more complicated than that," Dylan softly advised.

"Is it?" Beka questioned. "Harper in his right mind would never have chosen a Nietzschean Pride as a safe haven."

"Can't argue with you there," Dylan agreed.

"So how far did we actually push him to make him think that was his only choice?" Beka demanded.

"We could run over what we did a million times and I can guarantee it will never make any sense," Dylan sighed.

Beka took a deep breath and tried to control her rising emotions. "My biggest fear is that Harper doesn't even exist anymore, and I don't mean he's dead, just those implants screwed him up," Beka frowned. "We probably wouldn't even recognise him anymore."

"He now serves for Nietzscheans, for Tyr, so the day he walked off this ship with Tyr was the day we truly lost the Harper we knew," Dylan stated with regret.

"If that was supposed to make me feel better," Beka began.

"It wasn't," Dylan quickly interrupted. "We have to, very soon in our futures, begin a war against the Kodiak Pride," he spoke carefully. "And we will be fighting Tyr and Harper, whether directly or indirectly I don't know."

"Harper made his bed so now he has to lie in it?" Beka prompted, trying to understand what Dylan was trying to tell her.

"Exactly, he chose what side he wanted to be on," Dylan stated.

"I don't think he was thinking at all when he followed Tyr, and I don't think it was about joining the other side," Beka argued. "He just wanted space and time, and for some reason Tyr had convinced him he could find it with him." Beka closed her eyes, as they threatened to water. "You know he came onto my ship this pathetic scrap of a kludge, and from the very off he disrupted my life turned it upside down," Beka explained with emotion.

"He showed me what a crook Bobby was, and then weeded his way into my crew, got me to pay for that damn port and then became the best engineer I've ever known, he was instrumental in pulling the andromeda from that black hole," Beka paused as she remembered. "And as much as I can take some credit for nurturing that scrap who I rescued from Earth, I can take as much credit for destroying him as well, I feel so proud," she bitterly mocked herself.

"We have to stop thinking like this, Beka," Dylan stressed. "Otherwise he'll destroy us."

"We deserve it," Beka sneered.

"Listen to me Beka," Dylan's tone caused Beka to listen. "We have to move on from this, for Harper and for us. We can't keep dwelling on one event, one man, we have a mission and as much as it pains me to say this we have to accept that Seamus Harper is no longer on our crew, and no longer our concern because we may end up facing him in a fight."

"So we can shoot him down, the enemy we created?" she hissed.

"No!" Dylan stressed, remembering briefly how he had shot Harper. "We owe it to Harper not to let this destroy what was once his dream as well as mine, if we let the Kodiaks defeat the Dragens then the Dragens will seek revenge and I know exactly where they will do some of that."

"The slave planets, Earth," Beka spoke with more emotion now. "But Harper will want to defeat the Dragens, for what they did to him, his family," Beka stressed. "How can we fight that? Hell, I want to fight the Dragens so who am I to try and stop this?" she asked.

"We don't, we help him, we help Harper," Dylan confirmed.

"What? How? He's fighting on the wrong side," Beka explained.

Dylan took a deep breath. "We're going to attack the base where Commonwealth Intelligence has located the best engineer the Commonwealth have and who I foolishly let walk without any protest, we'll take that engineer hostage in the hope we can talk him back and then in the name of keeping the peace we'll head to Earth where hopefully, we'll be in time to stop the Dragens avenging Earth, as the Kodiaks destroy their stronghold in the Nietzschean hierarchy."

"You have it all planned out," Beka realised. "So is Harper well?"

"I would have told you sooner but he's not been sighted, although we have it on the best authority that he is there," Dylan assured her. "He is alive, that's all we know."

"So our mission is to capture Harper?"

"Not our specific mission, the council decided it was too much of a conflict of interest for the Andromeda to do that part of the mission, so another crew have been assigned that mission, but we will be leading a small task force to known Dragen slave worlds, and we have Earth, to ensure they play nicely in defeat," Dylan smiled, knowing his words had had the desired effect.

"I'm starting to like this plan," Beka confirmed, and finally got to her feet ready to prepare for war.

* * *

Harper studied the information Tabatha presented to him, engrossed by the details he was being allowed to view. Quietly sat by his side Tabatha smiled, as she started to appreciate the privileged kludge of the Kodiak Pride.

"All very interesting," Harper finished and shut down the terminal. "So the Dragens have called on the Commonwealth to help them, to protect them, now I've seen everything," Harper frowned.

"I thought you deserved to know the truth," Tabatha shrugged.

"Changes nothing, I told Tyr I'd help him defeat the Dragens, and I'll stick to my word," Harper stressed, as he got to his feet and grabbed a can of sparky cola. "So don't worry about my loyalties."

"I wasn't worried and I'm glad you're going to continue to help defeat the Dragens," Tabatha twisted in her seat so she could continue looking at Harper as he made himself comfortable on his cot.

"Is there another reason you're here?" Harper finally asked.

"I told you, I wanted to get to know the kludge that has my husband putting his reputation on the line for, no Pride has ever accepted a kludge as one of their own unless they were in chains," Tabatha recounted.

"I'm different," Harper simply answered before taking another gulp of his drink.

"The implants, I know," Tabatha nodded.

"Weird to think two ubers find time in their marriage to discuss little old Harper," Harper mocked.

"Truth be known, Tyr is worried about you," Tabatha revealed. "I think that's why he encouraged me to make time for you, get to know you and give you one more friendly face around here."

"You sure you're Nietzschean?" Harper queried and was answered by Tabatha showing him her bone blades. "Good answer," he frowned.

"Tyr never told me why you hated the Drago Kazov, I can imagine with you being from Earth but he had no actual details," Tabatha prompted.

"Because I don't talk about that," Harper dismissed.

"I want to know."

"Tough," Harper responded. "Maybe it's time you left, wouldn't want rumours to start about you spending time in my quarters."

"I was captured by the Dragens five years ago, amongst my people I am considered good wife stock and they were going to force me to marry one of their pathetic alpha males," Tabatha then revealed. "They were not expecting me to fight back."

"What happened?" Harper couldn't help his curiosity.

"I was taken prisoner, beaten," Tabatha paused and then shrugged, clearly struggling. "They didn't treat me like a lady."

Harper's expression fell and it was clear he knew what probably happened to her. "The Dragens take pride in their torture techniques, I was in their care for I think a couple of months before they let me go, I don't remember much apart from pain and a real desperate need to stop breathing."

"I've never had a death wish," Tabatha quietly spoke. "But I sure considered it for the month they had me."

"You shouldn't feel ashamed," Harper stated. "You did nothing wrong except be in the wrong place."

"Wise words," Tabatha agreed. "So how did you get away, I can't believe they let you go."

"A better offer came along," Harper shrugged. "I was exchanged for old man Klaus, the Dragens had wanted him for a long while so it was handled pretty quickly, and they'd had their fun with me."

"Klaus, he was just handed over by your own people?" Tabatha questioned.

"He'd made a few too many enemies amongst those living in the ghetto, he was a liability and rather than face death by his own people's hands he offered himself to the ubers, in exchange for me," Harper's eyes remained fixed on his hands. "He was a friend of my fathers I think," he shrugged and then looked up. "What about you, how did you escape?"

"I was rescued," Tabatha offered and saw she had Harper's attention. "By the Commonwealth."

"Commonwealth?" Harper repeated with surprise. "Why, how?" he questioned unsure.

Tabatha offered a secret smile now, before moving closer and sitting beside Harper on his cot. "I was originally taken from a Commonwealth ship, and so the Commonwealth just took back what was theres."

"You're Commonwealth?" Harper was shocked as he stared at Tabatha now. "Does Tyr know?"

Tabatha briefly shook her head. "He doesn't need to know, I'm not Commonwealth now, I am Kodiak Pride."

"But," Harper offered still trying to work it out.

"As of now."

"What?" Harper was lost.

"I have alerted the Commonwealth of your location, you have done enough for the Kodiak Pride to defeat the Drago Kazov, but now you must go," Tabatha stressed. "A Neitzschean Pride is no place for you, the Commonwealth want you back, and they always take what they want."

Harper was open mouthed as he stared at Tabatha. "You've used Tyr to get to me?"

"Not exactly, my mission was to infiltrate the Kodiak Pride to act as a spy, I have given the Commonwealth as much as I'm prepared to give and now I have officially resigned my commission to focus on being a good wife to Tyr, and serve the Kodiak Pride," Tabatha revealed. "You must tell no one what I have told you, I trust you Seamus, I never expected to fall in love but I am incredibly lucky to have found it."

"So you do love Tyr?" Harper checked. "This isn't just a bluff; you're not going to make him look a fool?"

"No more than you have," Tabatha cracked a smile but Harper didn't join her.

"What do you mean?"

"A kludge, Harper, that's all you'll ever be seen as, implants or not," Tabatha sighed. "For you own good, when the Commonwealth come go with them, and do you best 'being taken against your will' impression ever."

"Maybe it's time to go back," Harper reluctantly agreed. "Not like I get to hang out with Tyr much, especially since he got married."

"Sorry about that," Tabatha smiled. "One other thing though, how are you doing with, you know," she gestured to his head.

Harper frowned and looked away. "Good days, bad days, usual crap," he answered. "I can control it better, still some weird crap I don't have figured out yet but better," he attempted to grin.

"Those nightmares," Tabatha prompted.

"I don't know, I didn't know I was having them," Harper admitted. "I don't sleep like I used to, it's different now I just kind of shut down, I guess like a machine."

"Freaky," Tabatha offered. "Is it true you have an on off switch?" she smiled.

"Yeah," Harper grinned now, finding amusement in Tabatha's tone. "Hohne told me he'd get around to taking it out or disabling it but I guess it was more complicated than he thought, or he just forgot."

"Where is it?" Tabatha asked with interest.

"Back of my neck," Harper turned slightly and then gestured to the slightly raised skin at the back of his neck.

"Awww, they didn't bother to mark it, how inconsiderate," Tabatha mocked and heard Harper laughing and she used the momentary distraction to quickly move forward, pressing the area hard and effectively rendering Harper unconscious. "Sorry my little Kludge, but I need to use your brain for something."

Tabatha quickly took a probe from her jacket pocket and without hesitation she inserted it into Harper's data port. Pressing the correct combination she gained access to Harper's implants and began a series of downloads, before shutting the probe down and activating a wake up sequence for two hours.

"Hopefully amongst other things I have fixed the wake up program so you don't wake up screaming this time, I would like an uninterrupted sleep tonight," Tabatha lightly kissed Harper's forehead, as if sending her child to sleep. "This is the last one, I promise, it's been nice working with you, even if you didn't realise it, and the fact you are a kludge," she smiled fondly, before leaving Harper to sleep.

TBC


	31. Chapter 31

Part 31

Awaking with a start, Harper found himself sitting up in bed and looking around with caution. Taking some deep breaths he tried to relax on seeing an empty room around him, with no immediate threat.

"Bad dreams," Harper simply said to himself before checking the time. It was nearly four am, but he had no recollection of going to bed, or of anything he had done the previous evening. "Really bad dream," he concluded as he got to his feet and moved to the kitchen area.

Running the water Harper simply watched the liquid pour from the tap, mesmerised for the moment before he caught himself. Blinking his eyes Harper began to get a feeling in his gut that something wasn't right. Harper put his hands under the flowing water before bring them to his face, the coldness woke him up some more and he repeated the steps a few time before finally switching the water off and grabbing a hand towel to dry off.

Grabbing some cargos and a fresh t-shirt, Harper quickly got dressed and found his boots. He needed some air to clear his frazzled mind, and felt a small amount of dread inside as he struggled to recall anything from the previous day. Harper knew where he was, he knew who he was and he knew something wasn't right.

Then it hit Harper, just before he reached his door. He had woken up to nothing, no messages in his head, which meant he was disconnected from his cyber implants. Fear gripped him now, his brain could give him the fundamentals, his basic needs to exist, personal knowledge and communications but his memories, the things he had learned to store for recall, he was disconnected from his own knowledge, and he had lost the ability to recall and he was running on what was left of his own mind.

"Crap," Harper managed and fumbled for the door, needing the air more desperately now. He reached the railing outside, his quarters were located on the second floor of a three storey building complex and immediately outside his door was a balcony. Harper gripped the bar that ran across the top of the stone work and took some deep breaths.

"Calm down," Harper told himself. "Focus," he stressed and closed his eyes, entering his mind. "Reboot," he told himself and after repeating it a couple of times Harper realised that wouldn't work. "Recall memory alpha two zero one," Harper ordered but there was nothing, his mind was literally blank.

Harper looked around, knowing he needed to run some tests and with urgency he hurried towards the engineering block. His mind was unfocused and Harper was only concerned with running some tests on his implants when he stopped dead in his tracks. Ahead of him Vandes and Gerd were closing some sort of business deal, under the cover of darkness, and Harper had walked right into view.

Gerds showed panic in his features but Vandes recovered his composure quickly, taking the credits and handing over the box to the man dressed in black, his face hidden by a robe. Harper watched dumbstruck as the hidden man took the box and removed one of the contents, a restored weapon that Harper had seen before but no longer had the ability to remember from where.

With the customer seemingly satisfied, Harper saw his cue to run as Vandes quickly turned his attention to him. Terrified, but not quite knowing why, Harper sprinted across the complex with Vandes in quick pursuit. Harper's instincts led the way, but Vandes was a strong fit Nietzschean and all too soon the human found himself tumbling to the ground under the weight of a flying Nietzschean. Harper struggled but was soon over powered, and then all he could do was allow himself to be dragged to his feet and pushed against a hard brick wall.

"We're you spying on us, kludge?" Vandes asked. "Did you get all suspicious about the amount of guns we kept asking you to fix?"

"No," Harper gasped, trying to regain his breath. "I was just making my way to the workshop."

"It's nearly five am, kludge, you think we're stupid?"

Harper stopped himself from saying anything on instinct. "No," he managed.

"You're here to fix things, not meddle in business you have no business knowing," Vandes sneered.

"I promise, I was just heading to the workshop," Harper stressed.

Harper felt himself being pushed back against the wall. "You were spying on us."

"I don't even remember what I saw, what did I see?" Harper then asked, with a confused frown. "I can't even remember why I was going to the workshop," he then remarked with panicked tones.

"Stop mocking me!" Vandes snapped and tightened his grip around the human's neck.

"I'm not," Harper pleaded. "Please, I didn't see anything."

Gerd had now caught up with them. "He's lying, all kludges lie."

"I agree, he didn't catch us, we caught him, dirty spy," Vandes stressed and then dragged Harper roughly along side him. "We have methods of dealing with dirty kludge spies."

"I'm not a spy!" Harper yelled. "Get Tyr, he'll tell you the same!"

"You've been playing Tyr Anasazi for a fool, we've all suspected it," Vandes sneered. "We're taking matters into our own hands to prove it to our leader, get us some gold stars," Vandes grinned manically, as Gerd laughed.

"Let me go!" Harper attempted to struggle, not even remembering how he got into this mess but he felt the hard grip Vandes had on him and he knew it was unjust.

Moments later Harper was thrown into a barren room, sawdust scattered across the floor. Harper quickly got to his feet and backed away, seeing Vandes and Gerd retrieving some chains.

"No way," Harper warned, as he continued to keep some distance between him and the Ubers.

"Just tell us who you work for and the secrets you have told," Vandes encouraged.

"What? I'm not a spy!" Harper protested.

"We caught you kludge, fair and square," Gerd supported.

"You did?" Harper couldn't remember now, and the doubt on his face made the other two simply laugh.

"Oh he's good, I'm going to enjoy breaking this one," Vandes stressed excitedly.

Harper found himself backed into a wall, and he had no where to run as the ubers closed the gap. "This is all a misunderstanding, I'm sure," Harper attempted to reason but instead struggled, as Gerd grabbed his wrists and forced Harper to hold his hands into front of him. Vandes quickly bounded the human's wrists with cloth, before securing metal cuffs to trap his hands together.

"Now, kludge, you can either tell us everything you know, and what you're doing here, or we can play some games to get the same information," Gerd stated.

"I don't know anything, and I'm not a spy I don't know anything, something's wrong," Harper stressed repeatedly but was ignored by his captors.

"What were you doing in the courtyard at four-thirty in the morning?" Vandes asked.

"I don't remember," Harper returned with honesty, fear once more rising inside him more so for his own inability to remember anything.

"If he weren't a dirty lying kludge, I might have believed him, as is," Vandes began, before attaching the metal cuffs to a chain that hung from the ceiling. "I don't believe a word he's saying, so haul him up, lets have some fun."

"No!" Harper yelled as his arms lifted above his head, and he was raised no more than a couple of inches of the ground, but even so his shoulders and wrists now bore his entire body weight, and he was at the mercy of two angry ubers at an hour no one else was around.

* * *

"Wake up, Tyr, they have Harper," Tabatha spoke with haste, waking her husband from a comfortable slumber. It took a moment to register but Tyr was quickly awake.

"Who has?"

"Gerd and Vandes officially arrested him in the early hours, suspected of spying," Tabatha seemed panicked. "They've been questioning him ever since," she paused. "In one of the cells," she emphasised and Tyr instantly knew the significance.

"Get my clothes," Tyr ordered and Tabatha rapidly handed him a pile of fresh clothes. "On what grounds do they base their claims?" he asked as he quickly got dressed.

"Apparently they caught him snooping around the complex at four-thirty am, and he offered no suitable explanation, another man in a hood was also spotted but he escaped before Gerd could catch him," Tabatha explained. "Harper refuses to speak to them, claiming ignorance. Tyr, I'm worried, I know Gerd and Vandes push Harper around, ask him to do additional work, so I'm not sure this isn't something more," she admitted.

"Do you have proof?"

"When I was with Harper yesterday, they both came in and not knowing I was there they threatened Harper using their strength, and even though he had done the additional work they had asked," Tabatha recalled.

"Why tell me this now, and not last night?" Tyr asked.

"I didn't see the significance, I felt they did that because he was a kludge and on seeing me play witness to their actions, it might have been enough of a deterrent, maybe I was wrong," Tabatha offered.

"I trust your time with Harper has shown you that he is not just a kludge," Tyr stated, and moved to the door.

"I thank you for insisting I spend time with him, he truly is a curious being," Tabatha smiled knowingly, and Tyr joined her.

"I will sort this mess out," Tyr stated.

"Tyr," Tabatha called before he closed the door to their bed room. "You realise Gerd and Vandes are admired in some circles for their abilities to extract information from prisoners?"

Tyr was angered. "Harper is no spy, but I have to respect their suspicions and sound them out before I take appropriate action."

"Don't expect a pretty picture," Tabatha offered. "And from experience, Gerd and Vandes are rarely wrong, just be aware of all the facts."

"Do you suspect Harper is a spy?" Tyr questioned.

"He's a genius, and often prime examples of beings who feel they can not be touched, especially when they are so close to those in charge," Tabatha suggested and saw Tyr's expression grow dark. "But in Harper's case, I firmly trust he is not a spy and this is a misunderstanding."

Tyr softened his features. "A misunderstanding that has enabled two of the loudest voices in my pride to undermine Harper, and to undermine me."

"You should show caution, husband," Tabatha warned.

"I intend to," Tyr acknowledged and left the room, missing the secret smile his wife now bore.

* * *

The ice cold water stung and shocked every inch of Harper's body, as the sheer force of it hitting him pushed his prone body into a spin that was supported only by the chain around his wrists attached to the ceiling. Lifting his heavy head, Harper tried to react but he was struggling to focus now. On impact he screamed out as the jagged stick was struck against his back once more.

One of the ubers, Harper had long lost the will to identify them, came up close to him. "Who do you work for, kludge?"

"I don't know," Harper answered, and it was the truth, all he remembered was being taken by these uber numbskulls, and even that wasn't clear as to why they had taken him. Were they from another pride, had they kidnapped him? Did he do something wrong? Harper couldn't even remember if he was on Tyr's side or not anymore, or why he wasn't on the Andromeda, he couldn't recall anything past the last three hours of pain.

The stick came down harder across his shoulders, and Harper screamed out. They kept asking him the same questions and he could find no answers for them, his mind felt blank. They didn't believe him off course, felt he was hiding something. Harper didn't even know what to say to lie his way out of the situation, there was just nothing there to pull from; he had absolutely no idea what he had done, even by accident.

A hard slap across the face forced Harper to look at the uber now stood in front of him, their superior height meant even with Harper hanging from the ceiling he was still at a lower eye level with the morons. The one in front of him now roughly grabbed his jaw, and ensure Harper stared at him before speaking. Through swollen eyes, Harper tried to focus but he was finding it hard to listen, his head felt like mush.

"This can stop now if you just tell us what we want to know."

"What do you want to know?" Harper asked his throat dry through lack of water but he still yelped hoarsely as his hair was grabbed roughly.

"Who do you work for?"

Harper let his head drop when the hold of his hair was released, but the movement sent slight shocks of pain to his sore shoulder and elbow joints, supporting his weight. "I don't know, Tyr?" he chanced a guess.

"The Kodiak Pride?"

Harper closed his eyes, his head resting against his chest and he had no idea if the Kodiak Pride was the correct answer, but he felt he could do no worse than his current situation.

"Yeah, Kodiak Pride," Harper gasped. The ubers moved away, and for a few precious moments Harper was left alone. The cuffs around Harper's wrist had for a long time cut into his skin and he had lost all feeling in his hands. He could still feel the sting of numerous cuts and gashes across his upper body, burning almost.

Suddenly the support holding him up was loosened and Harper cried out as his body landed heavily on the hard floor. Feeling rushed painfully back into his shoulders and hands. Harper took deep breaths as the shock set in, and he began to shake.

Harper could barely open his swollen eyes now, as he felt the metal cuffs around his wrists being removed. The pain of feeling returning made him grimace as the heavy weight of the cuffs disappeared.

"Harper?"

"Tyr?" Harper checked, but couldn't see.

There was no response, instead Harper felt his aching body being hauled up and he struggled to stand for a moment, but finally found his feet only to find himself being pushed down into a chair.

"There's no need to secure him, he's going nowhere after what you've done to him," Harper heard Tyr state firmly, but he was confused as to why he was still inside the room where he'd been tortured. Why weren't they escaping or leaving even?

"Harper," Tyr's voice caught his attention.

"Tyr, what the hell is going on?"

"I was about to ask the same," Tyr responded. "Tell me the truth."

"I don't remember anything," Harper stressed.

"Don't play games, boy!" Tyr stressed. "Just the truth."

"That is the truth, I don't remember, all I do remember is those two goons marching me here and then asking stupid fricking questions!" Harper returned, his throat rasping in need of water. "I don't know what's wrong, but something is," he stressed and Harper felt panicked, confusion was filling his conscious. He still had no idea where he was or why, and Tyr was only making things worse, rather than better.

Harper suddenly felt his head snap to one side, nearly knocking him from the chair he now sat on but strong hands pulled him up as he felt the warm flow of blood quickly running down his face from his nose and a split lip.

"Don't play games, little professor," Tyr warned grabbing the human's neck.

"You hit me!" Harper realised, looking through squinted eyes but still only guessing where Tyr stood.

"So you are in there, now tell me the truth!" Tyr's patience didn't appear to be in vast supply.

"I swear, Tyr, it's all gone, everything I can't remember a thing," Harper was close to tears from the pain and torment of his own situation. He wished he could see, but his eyes were all but shut now. "I don't remember anything Tyr, its all gone, my memories have gone!"

Tyr was silent for a long time but his hold remained on Harper's neck. Finally Harper heard Tyr issue orders for people to leave, and the hold around his neck was removed.

"The Andromeda," Tyr spoke up.

"I know I used to be there," Harper attempted. "I met you there but I can't remember what happened there, why aren't we there now?" he asked genuinely.

"Beka Valentine?"

"Beka, captain, pretty feisty, owns the maru," Harper paused and just remained still.

"Tell me what she looks like," Tyr requested, but Harper didn't speak. "What do I look like?" Tyr then prompted to Harper's silence.

"Don't patronise me, my memories have gone but I'm not stupid, I still have my mind and you still look like an ugly uber," Harper finally responded, and wished his eyes were not puffed up so he could see and not feel so stupid.

"You are not making this any easier for yourself," Tyr was pacing, Harper determined as he listened to the footsteps around him.

"Tyr, when have I welcomed torture, if I knew anything I would say," Harper stressed. "Please, make this stop, I need to know what's wrong with me, right now I don't know and I won't know if I stay here being used as a punch bag!"

Tyr was considering Harper's words but didn't speak, and continued pacing. "For now you have to stay here, I can't be seen to show favouritism based on little or no evidence against the claims."

"Just make them stop, give me a chance to think," Harper pleaded.

"I'll try to be as quick as I can with my own investigation, but I can make no promises," Tyr simply stated before leaving the cell.

"I remember we're friends!" Harper yelled after him. "I do remember that, do you?" he cried out, and then attempted to calm down, knowing he was alone now and hoping it would give him some time to try and work out what was going on inside his head.

TBC


	32. Chapter 32

Part 32

Tabatha unlocked the door and entered the cell alone. She immediately saw that Harper was asleep in the corner, curled up on the hard floor with only a bare thread blanket for comfort. She was surprised that her husband had prolonged his little kludge's stay in the cell, but she was grateful for the opportunity to see him in a safe and closed off environment.

Moving to Harper's side, Tabatha quickly touched the back of his neck to activate the off switch and then without a second thought she connected a small handheld device into Harper's port. After a few moments she smiled, and looked down at the unconscious human.

"Well that's some error that has occurred kludge, seems beyond my knowledge, but interesting," Tabatha smirked to herself as she checked the results feeding back on the handheld. "It's just too much fun messing with your head, little one, but I think I'm done now."

With care, Tabatha removed the jack and replaced it into her side pocket with the hand held. She then removed an injector and pushed it against Harper's neck, filling him with nanobots. She gently pushed Harper onto his front and examined the damage Gerd and Vandes had done to him before she looked up to see the two Nietzschean captains arrive.

"What are you doing?" Gerd asked.

Tabatha took her time, and pressed against the back of Harper's neck before responding. "Admiring your work, captain," Tabatha answered, slowly getting to her feet.

"Mind you don't catch anything standing so close to a kludge," Vandes remarked with a smirk.

"You should still show this kludge respect, Tyr is not convinced you are right about your claims against him," Tabatha spoke with caution. "And I may have mentioned something about weapons you took from this very kludge just yesterday," she added slyly.

"You did?" Gerd noticeably panicked before Vandes dismissed it.

"Means nothing but coincidence, we caught this kludge spying and as you well know we've suspected there's been a spy in our camp for a while," Vandes stressed.

"So I hear," Tabatha answered with a secret smile that was missed by the two Nietzscheans, as she walked past them towards the exit. "And the kludge is the obvious suspect, if we're completely honest about it, right?"

"This one definitely, he has a history with our kind that can not be ignored," Gerd supported, as Tabatha left the cell. Their attention was then drawn to the groans of the human as he began to stir; slowly waking up to pain not knowing what lay ahead. As Harper attempted to sit up it was already clear to see the nanobots had got to work, his eyes were no longer as swollen and he was able to push himself up to a sitting position.

"Do you remember anything yet?" Gerd asked causally.

"No," Harper responded groggily, but he looked at Gerd and Vandes with uncertainty. "Nothing that you wanted answers for at least," he offered knowing that wasn't a good answer for either of them. He did remember a bit of what had happened briefly before he had fallen asleep, mainly the torture and the pain the two ubers had put him through.

"Secure him," Vandes ordered and Gerd immediately moved to Harper and dragged him painfully to his feet before hitting the human sharply across the face to stop his struggles. Within seconds Gerd had moved Harper to the back wall and secured a heavy chain around his waist, and then he took Harper's arms and secured them either side to the wall using cuffs attached to the brickwork.

"Remove his boots, and what's left of his shirt," Vandes then commanded with distraction, as he arranged some items he had removed from a metallic case.

"Where's Tyr?" Harper demanded testing his restraints, his fear rising on recognising the instruments Vandes was preparing. "Get Tyr! I want to speak to him! I demand to speak to him!" he then yelled, as he realised he was being ignored, and there was no give in the chains now securing him.

"Tyr has ordered us to continue until such a time he can determine your innocence, and you know, I have a feeling he'll be a long time determining that," Gerd sneered with amusement. "You could just tell us what we want to know."

"I work for the Kodiak Pride!" Harper stressed.

"We don't believe you, and we're good judges of character," Gerd responded flippantly. "We find it impossible to believe that even Tyr has been able to sway you into working with Nietzscheans of your own free will, we've done our research on you, kludge, we know who you are."

"Mind telling me?" Harper mocked.

"Angel of Death," was all Gerd had to say.

"Angel of Death?" Harper attempted to remember, seconds before Gerd sent a right hook across his jaw. "Awww, what the hell," Harper complained, feeling the familiar sensation of warm blood escaping his re-opened cut lip.

"You may have fooled Tyr, but you don't fool us and Tyr won't be saving you this time," Vandes now approached, but the instrument he held confused Harper, until he realised what was going to happen next.

"Not the hair, come on, it's all I have!" Harper protested loudly, as Vandes grabbed his hair and began to clumsily hack it away with the clippers he activated. "No!" Harper yelled, seeing clumps of his blonde hair fall around his feet.

"The electricity will flow so much better through your skull sans hair," Vandes smiled, seeing Harper's panicked torment.

The door to the cell flew open and Tyr strode in. "Stop!"

"Now he arrives," Harper grumbled as the close shave stopped abruptly, but already Harper could feel a large portion of his head now exposed to the cold air. "You're timing sucks!" he snapped towards Tyr.

"I did not authorise you to proceed with shock treatment," Tyr yelled at the two captains.

"We are just using methods that work," Gerd offered.

"Harper, if proven innocent, is still an asset to the Kodiak Pride but he has implants that if you try shock treatment you could potentially damage, now tell me the benefit of that to us," Tyr stated firmly.

"Gee, you sure know how to make a guy feel loved," Harper continued to complain. "How about you make this stop altogether because you haven't proven anything against me yet?" Harper requested. "Or is it just more uber lies that you're actually in charge around here?"

"Silence!" all three Nietzscheans found themselves barking back at Harper in unison.

"Just saying," Harper frowned and looked away.

"Continue to question him, if you must, but refrain from doing anything that could cause permanent injury or damage," Tyr stated.

Harper just smirked, but anger flashed across his features. "You really are a slime ball jerk, Tyr, you know that?" Harper sneered.

"I am helping you," Tyr returned calmly.

"Sure, if that will help you sleep better tonight, me? I'll be over there in that damp corner, because you're helping me, obviously," Harper mockingly sneered, unable to look at the Nietzschean.

Gerd stepped forward and sent another right hook across Harper's cheek, and this time Harper kept his head down without word.

"Leave us, I want to talk to Harper alone," Tyr gestured to the two Nietzscheans.

"What?" Vandes checked.

"I said leave us!" Tyr shouted and the two captains promptly followed his orders, leaving Tyr alone with Harper, who kept his head down from the blow he had taken. Harper felt a hand around his throat and his head was pushed back against the wall the minute the cell door closed. "I am trying to help you."

"I can see," Harper returned with arrogance, and then made a show of spitting some blood from his mouth to make his point.

"You leave me very few options," Tyr stressed. "I only have their word for what they believe are your crimes and you're refusing to talk!"

"You're right, it's entirely my fault," Harper agreed. "What did I do again?"

Tyr pushed Harper's head back in frustration and moved away. "A commonwealth attack is imminent, they have Drago Kazov on their side," Tyr explained. "Did you know about this?"

"Yeah," Harper answered tiredly.

"How?" Tyr demanded moving closer. "Only my most senior staff are aware of this development!"

Harper became alert to Tyr's temper and tried to remember but his memory was blank. "I don't know," he answered with genuine confusion.

"Wrong answer!" Tyr snapped and it was taking all of his control to stop himself taking his anger out on Harper. "You have put me in a very awkward position."

"Yeah, because I'm obviously totally comfortable working for a freaking uber pride! That's what I'm doing right; how the hell did I end up here? What am I doing?" Harper returned with confusion, showing his own frustrations.

Tyr stopped and stared at Harper. "You don't remember?"

"Give the uber a prize, he's got it in one," Harper mocked, rolling his eyes. "What have I been trying to tell you since I can remember, which granted isn't very long but long enough that even your numbskull should have registered it by now!" he snapped.

"I grow tired of your mouth," Tyr warned, and Harper knew he was going too far considering his position, and being defenceless.

"Look, Tyr, just listen and take this in, please, I have absolutely no recollection of my memories. I'm not sure how reliable my short term memory is but I do know I'm working on pure human brain here, and some of that was damaged remember?" Harper paused, seeing he now had Tyr's attention. "Tyr, I know some stuff, like something's wrong with my head and even why, the implants, but other stuff, like knowing about the imminent attack I don't know why I know that, and right now I'm scared, I've fricking chained to a wall and I don't feel exactly good."

"What are you telling me, boy?" Tyr demanded, losing patience.

Harper rolled his eyes again. "That something is going on, and yes I'm involved," Harper admitted. "But someone is using me, and right now you and your clowns are falling hook line and sinker for it, you get me?" Tyr stared at Harper for a moment before looking away, as the human continued. "I can't tell you what you want to know because honest to God I don't know what's going on, Tyr," Harper finished.

"You've tricked Nietzscheans before," Tyr spoke quietly with a confident air.

"What?" Harper checked he had heard right. "Tyr, look at me, do I look like I'm in any position to be tricking anyone, I'm surrounded by ubers, I may be a little forgetful right now but I'm not stupid!"

"Never stopped you before," Tyr turned to Harper.

"Do you trust me, Tyr?" Harper found himself asking and it became clear that Tyr was not going to answer. "Oh I get it," Harper cottoned on. "You brought me here, and I can't remember under what circumstances but I think I finally get why you did that, it all becomes painfully clear," he didn't known whether to laugh or cry as he looked around. "You brought me here for a reason, and it's pretty clear to me now why.""

"What are you prattling on about boy?" Tyr snapped.

"You brought me here because just like the old Earth saying goes, keep your friends close, your enemies closer," Harper stated. "You fear me."

"I fear you?" Tyr repeated mockingly.

"Hear me out because I know it's true," Harper protested, still secured to the wall by the chains. "I beat you, didn't I? On the Andromeda, we had a fight or something, I vaguely remember maybe," Harper struggled to remember but he was seeing a sketchy image in his mind. "I won," he stated before suddenly scrunching up his face, as if in pain and it took him a moment to recover. "What the hell was that, why did we fight?" Harper then asked unsure. "Why did you push me to do that?" he showed confusion. "Is that why I'm here now?"

Tyr took a deep breath. "I brought you here simple because I saw an opportunity for you, nothing more."

"Sure," Harper stated unconvinced. "Yet first mention that I might not be fighting on the same side and you allow, authorise and hell you condemn me to this," Harper tried to shake the chains for effect. "To torture because you don't really trust me, you actually fear me or else I wouldn't be in chains right now."

"Your head is full of fantasy as usual," Tyr dismissed but his tone lacked the conviction Harper would expect.

"Let me go and drop all these ridiculous claims against me, you know they are lies!" Harper challenged. "Let me prove to you as a free man that you can trust me because I have no hope of doing that if you keep me chained to this wall!"

"I can't do that," Tyr returned without emotion.

"Oh yeah, I forgot, you're in charge of course you can't," Harper stressed with mocking tones. "When the hell did ubers become reasonable?"

"Don't push me boy!" Tyr warned spinning around to face him.

"Or what, you'll torture me some more? Secure me even more to this wall to even the odds in your favour?" Harper mocked. "Big scary Harper has got you really scared," he mocked with a smirk.

"Don't flatter yourself, little professor," Tyr stated and moved towards the door.

"Tyr, wait," Harper spoke with more control on his emotions, and was glad to see the Nietzschean stop and slowly turn. "I don't know what's going on but I'm not the enemy, you were mistaken before and you're mistaken again."

"What did you say?" Tyr checked, the reference to the previous time he had seen Harper as the enemy didn't add up with Harper's words of memory loss.

"I don't know why I said that," Harper offered quickly with confusion.

"You do remember, you remember everything and I'm tired of your games, boy, you have no memory loss, and until you tell us what we want to know you have no freedom," Tyr announced and turned back to the door to leave.

"Tyr, no, wait, I don't know why I said that, it was like instinct, and I don't understand what it meant!" Harper stressed.

Tyr considered Harper's words. "I can not be seen to give you any further preferential treatment, understand my position, I took a risk and a chance bringing you here, and you knew what you were getting into by agreeing to come with me."

Harper sighed, having no idea what Tyr was talking about, but he found it hard to believe it had been his choice to follow Tyr, he knew all the risks all too well. He had a lifetime's experience knowing uber's could not be trusted and once again he was paying the price, and he had no doubt now that Tyr had somehow tricked him. "So I'm stuck here till when exactly?" Harper asked with resignation.

"I don't know," Tyr admitted.

"Just tell me the truth, Tyr. Are you more comfortable now that I'm like this?" Harper asked, his voice sounding troubled. "Was this part of your plan, did you sell me a lie just to cover your own back, is this some method to keep me in check? Did you order those meatheads to find any excuse to arrest me so your hands could be seen to be tied?"

Tyr looked at Harper without reaction. "You always did think too much," he spoke calmly. "Right now, with the Commonwealth and Dragen fleets preparing to go to war against the Kodiak Pride I would want you elsewhere, somewhere more useful than being chained to a wall," he finally admitted.

"So let me go, and I will help you, Tyr, for freaks sake you can trust me I'm not a spy!" Harper stressed with conviction.

"You live under Nietzschean rule now, my rule and I will not risk my future on being blindsided by a human frailty such as friendship, you have overpowered me once in my lifetime, one time too many and I can assure you I will take all necessary precautions to ensure that never happens again," Tyr stated firmly. "You will remain in chains until such a time I am convinced that you are not the spy we seek."

"Well here am I feeling like the biggest jerk in the universe for ever giving you the time of day, thanks for that," Harper resigned himself with a sneer to what he now knew as the truth. "But there's still someone in this camp that purposely did something to my head, probably your actual spy."

"If that is true, then tell me what do you know about the Commonwealth's planned attack?" Tyr asked idly, still stood by the door.

Harper tried to remember and then sighed. "Nothing."

"You make it hard for me to believe you when you can tell me nothing to convince me you are on my side," Tyr responded.

"You're not exactly making me want to tell you," Harper sneered. "Even if I did know something, which I don't, but if I did."

"Have you started using your port again yet, since the implants?" Tyr then asked, seemingly without any reason.

Harper showed his confusion to the question, but growing tired of the conversation he simply shrugged. "Not yet, not that I remember, no."

Tyr moved forward towards the small table that contained the equipment that was due to be used on Harper. He moved the objects around until he found a scanner and a cable.

"What are you doing?" Harper asked with some concern.

"You're asking me to trust you, then I need to see proof that I can," Tyr explained and brought the cable towards Harper's port. "The port is the obvious location for you to hide something from me."

"I can think of other places," Harper offered with a frown. "But go for obvious, obvious is good and less humiliating," he quickly added, realising what he had just said.

"We have already completed a full body scan of you, so I wouldn't have any desire to go any further into that particular investigation, thank you," Tyr offered, as he prepared the scanner.

"Tyr, I haven't used the port since the implants, please I just feel it's too soon," Harper stressed with growing panic. "Don't do this, I'm not ready," he struggled in the restraints to try and make his point clear.

"Do you have something to hide?" Tyr enquired thoughtfully, as he approached.

"No!" Harper snapped. "For freaks sake, Tyr, I don't know if my head is ready for any port activity yet, it's barely functioning as it is, please don't do this!" Harper panicked. "I already feel like shit, and I know something isn't right inside this beat up head of mine!"

Tyr grabbed what was left of Harper's hair and tugged his head to one side, and the human could do nothing to stop him as Tyr inserted the jack into Harper's port, ignoring the scream Harper immediately omitted.

Breathing heavily, and scrunching up his face Harper seemed to be struggling with the intrusion into his mind. Tyr looked at the scanner with interest, and then to Harper. "When was the last time you accessed your port?"

Harper froze as he tried to remember through the pain he felt. "I don't remember, feels a long time," he panted through gritted teeth, perspiration began to show as he tried to control the effects of the attached scanner. "Tyr, I can't deal with this, please take it out, it's too much!"

"The scanner says your port was last accessed under an hour ago," Tyr stated. "You have some sort of blocked information stored, I can't touch it, but I'm guessing you can."

Harper froze and tried to take the information in, still dealing with the sensation of the port being activated. "Impossible, Tyr how the hell could I have done that, not exactly in a position to do anything to myself at the moment, let alone jack in!" Harper stressed, and rattled the chains to good effect. "Tyr, I can't even see whatever that crap is that you've found inside my head, I have no ability to recall, I'm guessing the port is connected to the implants that aren't working, are you not getting that at all?" Harper questioned angrily, and then frowned. "I don't like this, something is going on and they, whoever they are, they are using me, and you have to believe me!"

"I need you to help me," Tyr asked, removing the jack much to Harper's immediately relief.

"Help you?" Harper questioned between heavy pants, practically hanging in the chains now, his legs long since buckled against the strain of the port's intrusion. "Release me and maybe I'll talk."

"It involves you remaining right here," Tyr instructed.

"How convenient for your paranoia," Harper sneered. "Go on then, tell me how I can help you, nothing would please me more," he mocked.

"Gerd and Vandes are the only people to have seen you in the past hour," Tyr stated.

"So you want me, the prisoner, to question the big scary twice my size torturers?" Harper checked with a frown, and a smirk. "Whilst chained to a wall? Do I do this between screams or wait until they take a coffee break? Tyr, what the freaking hell is wrong with this picture, huh?" Harper demanded.

"I need something," Tyr stressed.

"And I have a shit load of suggestions for things you need right now Tyr, none of them helpful," Harper returned with venom, and looked away. "I can't believe this, I forget exactly why we're friends and maybe that's the only plus point right now, because I can see with unbiased eyes that you have no decent bone in your body to free me, look at me Tyr, just look at me!" Tyr couldn't look at Harper and remained stony faced. "Go to hell Tyr, just freaking get out of my sight, I'm not helping you if you can't even bring yourself to look at me, let alone help me, I'd rather be tortured."

"So be it," Tyr simply said and turned to leave the room. "When you have finished playing your games, maybe you'll feel ready to talk. You remember details when it suits you, like the technicalities of your port and implants, it seems to me you have very suggestive memory loss, and I'm not impressed."

Harper wanted to scream, he wanted to stop Tyr leaving but he couldn't and there was no way he was prepared to beg. Suddenly his world began to crumble as the realisation set in, Tyr had tricked him, used him and now had him right where he felt safe having him, and Harper hadn't so much as got a punch in, he'd been a fool and he couldn't even remember how it had happened.

TBC


	33. Chapter 33

Part 33

"Tyr."

Tyr Anasazi looked up with tired eyes to see his wife approaching the terminal where he had been accessing a console for nearly four hours, and was starting to grow weary of his responsibilities. Tabatha looked sullen as she sidled up to Tyr and put her arm around his shoulders.

"Any news?" Tabatha asked.

"There have been no further reports of activity, the Commonwealth and Dragen fleets are holding position as far as we can tell," Tyr spoke evenly. "They seem to be directing their attack to our ships situated in the Revidian cluster."

"Do they know we're here?" Tabatha enquired.

"As far as I am aware our presence here on Halost is undetected, but who knows," Tyr idly dismissed.

"Our spy?" Tabatha questioned.

Tyr got to his feet clearly troubled. "Harper is many things, but as much as I can believe he is capable of this, I just as much believe he is not."

"Trust is a strange arrangement sometimes," Tabatha agreed and took the seat Tyr had just vacated. "We have no other suspects."

"He is too obvious," Tyr returned.

"What has he said?"

"The usual, like any prisoner he is protesting his innocence," Tyr frowned. "Though he has an interesting theory, if by chance he is not our spy, he believes he is being used."

"Used?" Tabatha showed confusion. "In what way?"

"Inside that head Harper has what could be deemed as the capabilities to store information," Tyr offered, as if thinking aloud. "It's fairly easy to believe that someone could have used this to their own advantage, and the alleged problems he's having accessing his memories could be a direct result of tampering."

"Surely he would know, we're talking about his mind, his memories not some machine," Tabatha dismissed.

"He has an on off switch," Tyr revealed, and noted Tabatha raising her eyebrows. "Something the Persieds gave him, as I think I have mentioned the boy can be annoying and I assume he was unwise to annoy superior intellect who had the ability to fit such a device."

"Kludges with on off switches, now there's an invention I could happily encourage," Tabatha smiled broadly. "Where is it?" she asked brightly.

Tyr smirked. "You will only find out in the event of it being proven beyond doubt that Harper is my spy, only then will you have my consent to freely test it out."

"Spoil sport," Tabatha smiled.

"Actually I was wondering if you would do something for me," Tyr began, and saw his wife raise her eyebrows once again. "I need your insight, and cunning."

"What do you want to know?"

"I need to rule out Gerd and Vandes," Tyr simply answered.

"They are under suspicion?" Tabatha was curious by this development.

"I discovered that Harper's port had been active an hour prior to me testing it, and Harper was in no position to have activated it, considering he was either chained to a wall, or in a cell with no equipment to access," Tyr stated and saw his wife's intent interest. "It leads me to further suspect the possibility that he is being used and I want to know by whom, and the two captains are the likely suspects. I sent word down that you have medical expertise and will be joining them to ensure the prisoner's health is in no way jeopardised."

"I don't want to go down there and ruin their fun," Tabatha stated.

"Just make sure he doesn't die, that's all I ask for your cover," Tyr stated and moved to his wife, lightly kissing her forehead. "I trust your judgement, and you have already seen them intimidating Harper, it's on their word that he is under suspicion," Tyr stated before hugging his wife. "I need to attend a briefing on the upcoming conflict, so I trust I can leave this in your capable hands?"

"I will find out what I can," Tabatha agreed. "Being your wife might mean they will be on their guard but I am patient, and they will slip up if they are trying to watch their step, I guarantee."

Tyr smiled and left his wife alone in their apartment, her smile grew wide as she secretly contemplated what the situation had now thrown up for her, a chance to protect her interest and remain out of the frame.

* * *

Harper's head rolled as he tried to remain focused, the pain consumed him as the two ubers continued to torment him.

"Tell us what you have told the Commonwealth, did you reveal this location?" Gerd asked.

"I told them nothing," Harper gasped, and then felt his hair being tugged so he was forced to look up and see the simple metal device as it was directed to his ear, and short sharp pain follow as another nick was added to the series of small incisions that now bled from both ears.

Gerd let go of Harper's hair and his head rolled once more. Harper felt weak and dizzy, and his temperature seemed to be getting higher. Perspiration covered him, mixed with blood from a series of sources, adding to the hunger and tiredness that was now slowly chipping away at his psyche.

"We're getting nothing from him, he's delirious, let's see if we can get anything more from what Tyr found," Vandes suggested, as he picked up the scanner and the jack cable.

"Let me check him first," Tabatha suddenly spoke up from the back of the room. "He's looking sick, and we need to ensure he stays semi-healthy."

"Fine, go ahead," Gerd sighed. "You and your precious husband really don't get torture do you? His health is the least of our concerns, information is the key factor!"

"Proof is another," Tabatha simply said, but she eyed the scanner Vandes held and inwardly was concerned by what he might find if he dug a bit deeper than Tyr had. She had stored a lot of stuff, secret information, within Harper and she didn't want them finding it before Harper had had a chance to be rescued. She lifted Harper's head and checked his eyes, finding them rolling. "He's sick, you should give him a break," Tabatha instructed. "He needs water, food and at least a few hours sleep."

"Get out of our way lady," Vandes dismissed. "We have work to do."

"Tyr has specifically ordered that Harper's health remain constant and not become a threat to him," Tabatha argued.

"Well Tyr isn't here and time isn't on our side, we need to know what this waste of space has been telling the enemy," Vandes stressed.

"I must insist you allow him some recovery time before you proceed with further actions," Tabatha stood her ground. "Remember I saw you pick up those guns, don't make me further investigate why you needed them, when I have checked that both your crews have a full gun allocation already, and at least two models up on what you had Harper fix."

Both Vandes and Gerd stared at Tabatha with contempt. "Go run to your husband and let the men do their work," Vandes remained defiant. "I'm not stopping for no one, not till I know the truth and this little kludge has squealed."

Tabatha was horrified and stepped back, before promptly turning and leaving the room.

"We haven't got long, and I hope to the powers that be, that this kludge has something inside of him," Vandes stressed. "That bitch is getting too close to our own schemes."

"Shall I set up the shock equipment?" Gerd asked.

"Hook him up, I'm tired of playing games," Vandes instructed, throwing the jack and scanner back onto the table.

* * *

The briefing had been arduous and Tyr was concerned by the reports they'd received on the positioning of the Commonwealth and Dragen fleets. His prime concern however, the Andromeda, was in another sector far from them, the only bright spot on an otherwise worrying situation.

A message from Tabatha had caused him to head towards the prison block, she had information she wanted to share and her voice had sounded troubled on the link that had come through to him. As he entered the main prison corridor Tabatha came towards him and they both stopped.

"He's sick, your kludge is sick," Tabatha stated.

"What's wrong with him?" Tyr asked.

"I think he's developed a fever, he's not looking good," Tabatha relayed. "They have gone pretty much all out on him today."

"I trust they didn't do the shock treatment?"

"Not as far as I can tell," Tabatha looked down. "He's in a lot of pain, and they still haven't got any information from him."

"Ok, this stops now, I will not run the risk of his health any further over what is still claims without proof," Tyr decided, and walked with his wife towards the cell. Seconds before arriving they heard an ear piercing yell, and they both knew it was from Harper.

Tyr stormed into the room and caught Gerd and Vandes as they were about to shock Harper again, Tyr also saw Vandes had the scanner attached to the human's data port and his concern grew.

"Captain Vandes and Gerd report to your crews now and prepare to join the fleet in the Revidian cluster," Tyr barked the order and immediately they set down their tools. "We will talk after battle has been won, or lost," Tyr stated, as they passed him and left the room quickly, and Tyr showed slight surprise at how quickly they had retreated.

Tabatha was already by Harper's side, removing the jack from his port when Tyr reached him. Quickly he removed the shock pads from Harper's head, neck and chest. "Is he alive?" Tyr asked hurriedly.

"He has a strong pulse," Tabatha relayed, as she unlocked the chains around Harper's right wrist, and then proceeded to release his other arm.

Tyr checked Harper's responses and frowned, as he released the final chain and laid Harper gently onto the ground. "He is sick, we need to get him to the infirmary," Tyr decided just before they heard the sound of aircraft above followed closely by the building shaking, as an explosion sounded nearby. Both Tyr and Tabatha looked at each other; both knowing what had just kicked off.

"The Commonwealth?" Tabatha correctly guessed.

"Slip fighters," Tyr agreed, and looked down at Harper. "I need to get to control, we need back up, prepare for an evacuation."

"What about Harper?" Tabatha asked and saw the torn expression on her husband's face.

"He'll only slow us down, and we need to move quickly," Tyr stated but then seemed to have a change of heart. "Prepare him for evacuation, for travel, and have him moved to the hanger bay."

"Of course," Tabatha duly agreed, and received a quick kiss before Tyr dashed off to oversee the situation, as the building rocked again with another explosion.

Tabatha got to her feet and smiled. "Hopefully this building is still standing by the time they come to rescue you," she spoke with amusement before leaving Harper exactly where Tyr had left him, ignoring her husband's orders.

* * *

"Any news?"

"The attack has begun," Dylan answered from his console on command. Beka was stood at the slipstream console, looking troubled.

"What if they don't find him?" Beka asked.

"The primary mission is to remind the Kodiak pride that we, and the Dragen's exist, and can not be bullied, to show them that there are other players in this galaxy," Dylan reminded her. "Harper is not the main focus, so there's every chance they won't find him."

"Gee thanks for getting my hopes up," Beka complained, but she knew the situation, she just didn't want to consider them not finding her friend. "I hate being so far from the action, I want to be there."

"We have to hold position until we know if they have Harper or not," Dylan stated.

"What difference does it make?" Beka enquired.

"I'm not sure at this time, classified information on a need to know basis," Dylan frowned and the command deck fell silent again, as they prepared for any news.

* * *

Tyr raced into the hanger deck, as another explosion rocked the settlement. Spotting his wife he rushed to her side. "Is everything done?"

"All personnel are accounted for," Tabatha relayed.

"And Harper?" Tyr checked, and saw his wife frown.

"He slowed me down, we don't need him," Tabatha simply said and saw the reaction in her husband, and it wasn't good. "He is sick, weak and will not survive the journey if we take him."

"If we leave him he has no chance of surviving," Tyr returned.

"He is a kludge and not that important to our mission," Tabatha returned sharply.

"I will be the judge of that!" Tyr stated firmly. "These craft we're about to leave in, the weapons we will fire upon our enemy, they were all designed and built by the kludge you deem unimportant to our mission, tell me, my dearest wife, what is your contribution in comparison?"

"I support and love you, I am your wife and companion," Tabatha confidently returned.

"Yet you are still to bear me a child, and you disobeyed a simple order," Tyr challenged and saw Tabatha waver. "You will initiate the departure sequence, and once I have recovered Harper we will leave."

"But, we don't have time," Tabatha stressed.

"Make time," Tyr stated and promptly turned to leave.

"Wait!" Tabatha called. "I should go back and bring Harper, your place is here, let me attempt to make up for my misjudgement."

"You will succeed not attempt," Tyr warned, accepting his wife's offer.

"Of course," Tabatha agreed, and quickly kissed her husband before leaving to find Harper.

* * *

The pain in his head was intense as awareness returned and Harper promptly snapped his eyes open with a gasp. Scrunching his eyes to the light in the room, Harper tried to remember where he was but when the building was rocked by an explosion, he instinctively flinched and covered his head. Blinking his eyes, Harper took stock of his situation, feeling sore and in pain nearly all over his body. Looking at his hands he could only see dried blood, mostly for two deep gashes in his palms. Ignoring the pains Harper moved to sit up, and found that his whole body was either cut or bruised and all that remained of his clothes were his shorts.

"Small mercies," Harper tiredly murmured to himself. "Ow," Harper suddenly flinched and found similar gashes to his hands on the soles of his feet, and then he became aware of his head ache once more, and it seemed to be directly behind his eyes and pretty intense for a few moments at a time. Feeling weary, Harper laid back down to try and ease the pain in his head, but he could find little comfort. Another explosion suddenly rocked the building and a scattering of dust and masonry fell, Harper pushed himself up sensing the danger now.

Looking around he saw the heavy cell door and pushed himself to get to his feet, it took some effort to find the strength and beat the pain but he willed himself to walk despite the dusty and scattered fragments on the floor aggravating his wounded feet. Finally reaching the door, Harper found it was locked and he didn't have the strength to move it, feeling hungry suddenly with an unquenchable thirst, Harper began to have a mild panic attack as the walls of the cells felt incredibly close suddenly. A sharp pain to his head caused Harper to momentary fall back down to the floor, clutching his temples before he recovered enough to sit up and try and assess the situation.

Harper heard a noise and realised the door was opening, he quickly got to his feet and backed away unsure of who was coming in, feeling suddenly afraid. When Tabatha appeared Harper couldn't explain his immediate unease, as if he was somehow aware that this wasn't good but he was unsure why.

"You're awake, for a kludge you have unbelievable resistance, almost worth investigating but now is not the time," Tabatha spoke without emotion.

"Get away from me," Harper warned and continued to back away.

"You need to go, get out of here," Tabatha stated. "Unless of course you want me to take you to Tyr, he's requested you join the evacuation of this place."

Harper took some steady breaths, trying to ignore the thumping headache. "I can just go?" Harper checked.

"Get out of here, kludge," Tabatha encouraged, and then returned to the door. "I'll let Tyr know you escaped, so make sure you get captured to support my story."

"Are you really going to help Tyr now?" Harper asked.

"What?" Tabatha asked, caught out by the question.

"I don't know," he paused uneasily, and then stared at Tabatha with shock. "Are you the spy?" Harper looked confused by his own question.

"You remember what I told you?" Tabatha seemed taken aback.

"Maybe, no, I don't know where that came from," Harper paused now unsure. "Is it true?" he asked nervously.

"Just get out of my sight and do me a favour, don't let Tyr's men be the ones to find you, make sure it's the Commonwealth," Tabatha stated.

"Why?"

"What do you mean why? Kludge, I don't have time for these questions," Tabatha returned losing patience.

"Have you set me up? You want me to be caught by the enemy, that can only mean you're the one who was using me," Harper stated. "You're going to betray Tyr," Harper realised, and the uncertainty returned as Tabatha moved quickly towards him.

"Tyr was right, you are a smart one," Tabatha reluctantly agreed, as she grabbed hold of Harper. "But I'm smarter, and there's no way you're remaining with the Kodiak Pride when you're more use to me elsewhere," she removed a probe from an inside pocket and before Harper could protest she jabbed it into his port, and Harper's eyes rolled. "There, another dose of forget me not, or what you would in a former life recognise as jamming the frequency, but you're not that hot shot engineer anymore, kludge," Tabatha smiled as she removed the probe and Harper regained his senses.

"I'm not your freaking puppet," Harper stressed. "You can't control me."

Tabatha seemed almost amused by the notion. "And how exactly will you stop me, kludge?"

"Already have, I'm guessing," Harper remained defiant despite the pain and confusion that he felt.

"Tyr won't leave without me," Tabatha stressed but she moved towards the door making to leave.

"The bombing has stopped, now that can mean two things," Harper spoke with experience, while he struggled to regain some strength and focus. "The Slip fighters have found a new target, say a ship attempting to escape that might have just taken off, or," Harper smirked. "They have landed and right now this settlement is riddled with enemy solders looking for anyone to capture."

"You know nothing, kludge, and this isn't Earth," Tabatha spat and left the room.

"I know enough, maybe not quite everything I once knew, but I know you're an uber and boy, do I know you're stupid," Harper spoke more to himself, having seen Tabatha leave. With effort he moved towards the door, his feet now numbed to the pain as he left the cell and entered the corridor outside. The thumping in his head was distracting and artificial light in the corridors momentarily stunned him, and sent new pains through him.

Harper took a moment to adjust before narrowing his eyes and proceeding to move. With haste and as much speed as he could muster, Harper hurried through the catacombs of corridors not knowing where he was going but with some idea of heading towards his quarters to get some clothes. When he turned the next corner he came face to face with a Commonwealth task force.

"Freeze!" the leader shouted, startling Harper who instantly froze. "Get down on your knees and put your hands above your head where we can see them!"

Harper complied as best he could, but his focus wavered as he tried to concentrate and his hunger and sickness distracted him, consuming his senses as he tried to ignore the constant pain in his head and body.

"I said state your name and business!" a soldier suddenly yelled into Harper's ear, and he realised he'd lost focus for a moment but the sudden noise so close caused his head to hammer sharp pains throughout his body and he grimaced before feeling himself falling forward to the floor, and a dull thudding pain where he'd been hit seconds earlier on the back.

"Secure him, we can find out the details later, he's obviously not feeling co-operative right now," the voice ordered.

"Sir, he's sick and hurt, I think he's been tortured, look at all these marks and bruises," another voice reasoned.

"Secure him and we can give a damn once this complex is secured, soldier!"

Harper felt his wrists being secured behind his back and then he was pulled to his feet, and forced to start walking. Along the way, Harper found himself stumbling a number of times as his sickness took over, and his hunger churned at his stomach. The pains in his feet and head made him feel dizzy and he knew he was going to collapse seconds before he eventually did, and he felt limp as they tried to pick him up again, all energy gone.

"Harper," Harper finally managed, and whoever was holding him stopped.

"Harper?"

"My name," Harper gasped. "And my business is worthless kludge," he breathed heavily. "And universes biggest idiot to have ever come to this stupid place in the first place," he managed before finally passing out.

TBC


	34. Chapter 34

Part 34

Dylan knew he was staring but he couldn't help it as he looked at the image on his console, but the sound of someone walking onto command quickly caused him to switch the image off as he turned to looked at Beka approaching.

"What was that?" Beka enquired, a little amused by Dylan's expression. "You looking at stuff High Guard Captains really shouldn't be while on duty?" she suggested with a wry smile.

"Not exactly," Dylan frowned and continued with his work.

"So what was it?"

"Classified," Dylan answered without looking up, concentrating on his work.

"Come on, tell me," Beka persisted.

"Our mission has changed, we've been ordered to lead the fleet advance into the Revidian cluster," Dylan informed her.

Beka stared at Dylan for a moment, before speaking. "What about our mission?"

"That is our mission now," Dylan stated, avoiding her gaze.

"Cut the crap!" Beka snapped and the new crew assigned to command fell silent at their consoles. "Tell me what's going on, what's happened to our original mission?"

"Walk with me," Dylan instructed.

"Show me what you were looking at, then we'll walk," Beka offered.

Dylan sighed and looked around Command, and his stare was enough to encourage his crew to resume work. "Walk with me, you can see what I was looking at but not here," Dylan stated firmly.

"It was Harper wasn't it?" Beka checked, her voice breaking slightly.

Dylan glared at Beka and with a sigh she fell into line beside Dylan and they began to walk. On leaving Command Dylan glanced at Beka. "Yes, it was Harper."

"They found him?" Beka asked.

"Yes."

"So why isn't he being brought here? That was the original plan, wasn't it?" Beka questioned.

Dylan frowned. "He's being detained for further questioning."

"Detained? Is he under arrest?" Beka looked confused. "I thought we were rescuing him?"

"I'm not entirely sure of the details, they are only telling me what I need to know," Dylan offered. "However it seems that Harper isn't being very cooperative."

Beka sighed. "He never did like being proved wrong," she remarked and saw the curious glance Dylan threw her. "The Commonwealth having to go in there and drag him back, he doesn't want it to be seen like he wanted to be rescued, and he's only resisting to save face."

"I'm not sure it's that simple," Dylan seemed troubled. "If it was just a case of his pride they would have encouraged efforts to bring him here so we could talk him around. Harper is being classified as a need to know mission, and I'm rapidly becoming less in the know."

"So what the hell is going on?" Beka asked, as they reached Dylan's office and he gestured to her to walk inside.

"I'm not sure," Dylan admitted and activated his desk console. "But these are the images that were taken of Harper immediately after he was brought on board the rescue ship."

Beka moved round the desk and immediately took in a sharp intake of breath. "What has Tyr done to him?" she asked with horror, seeing Harper unfocused, with a shaved head and numerous signs of abuse. "They tortured him," she concluded with shock evident in her voice.

"But he wasn't in a cell when they found him," Dylan offered. "And he refuses to talk. They are not sure what the story is, but he was just wearing shorts, no other clothes so it's possible during the aerial bombardment that his cell was damaged and he found an escape, but there was no reported damage in the cell blocks."

"Someone could have released him," Beka offered, her stare transfixed to the screen.

"It's very possible, there is a known Commonwealth spy in the camp," Dylan returned, but said nothing further.

"This is bad, Dylan," Beka moved away, switching Dylan's console off so she didn't have to look at the beaten features of Harper any longer. "Once again Harper is being unfairly judged and victimised, he's done nothing wrong yet he's still on the receiving end of," she paused. "It seems everything," she stressed. "We promised ourselves that we'd never let that happened again, do you remember that?" she spoke with emotion. "And this time we won't be able to use some leaking gas as an excuse, Dylan."

"We don't know the full story," Dylan argued.

"We thought we did the last time, convinced ourselves that we were right and everyone else was wrong, and we nearly killed him," Beka shot back. "We know in our heart of hearts that Harper does not deserve this, any of this."

"Do we? Harper left with Tyr of his own free will and he knew what he was letting himself in for by joining a Nietzschean pride, being a human regardless of the implants. Harper knew they would judge him, but he still defected and gave up this mission, Beka," Dylan challenged. "I know we played our part in him reaching that decision but the fact remains he made that decision, and we had to respect that," Dylan spoke before Beka could respond.

"You know what I mean, Dylan, he doesn't deserve further questioning by the Commonwealth and being treated like he's a criminal, he's not talking because he doesn't understand the gravity of the situation he's in, he simply needs a friend to explain and stop him being so pig headed," Beka stressed. "You saw him, Dylan; he needs us there right now, and not on some stupid mission we were never assigned to in the first place."

"You're asking me to request that we pull the flagship from the heart of the battle for Seamus Harper," Dylan spoke with care.

"It's the least we can do, just remember that day, and how it felt for us all when we realised the truth," Beka encouraged. "We do this and help him now and maybe, just maybe things might start to get easier if we succeed," Beka suggested.

"We can't know that."

"Can it honestly get any worse?" Beka challenged.

Dylan considered her words and then sighed. "Andromeda, get me a channel to Tri-Jema."

Beka threw Dylan a relieved smile and they both waited for communications to resume.

---

Harper lay on the cot focused on the pattern of the floor tiles by way of distraction. He had no idea how long he had been in the cell, time had no meaning within the blank white washed walls that had become his prison. People would come in and talk to him as if he knew them, but he couldn't be sure, only that they never felt familiar so he could only assume they'd never met before despite their attempts to play nice.

They asked for information to begin with, then demand, but he couldn't give them what they wanted, and when he remained silent they'd get mad and start shouting but the pain didn't follow, not like with the ubers. Harper felt drained and irritated, a while ago they had hooked him up to some contraption, it was around his face, and attached to his chest and arm. So now he was simply waiting for the pain to start, only so far his new captors had failed to begin the painful sessions. Somewhere inside Harper also knew his captors to be Commonwealth and his confusion made his brain hurt. The head ache was dulled by some medicine they had given him at some point at least he assumed it was medicine. Harper felt lost, confused and alone, and he closed his eyes as the need to sleep consumed him once more.

Just as he felt the grasp of unconsciousness, Harper's eyes snapped open as his cell door was loudly unlocked and then pulled open. His energy didn't extend to pushing himself up to greet whoever was coming in so he remained lying on his side. For a moment his eyes blurred as he saw movement but quickly focused, and Harper found himself staring.

"Beka?"

"Seamus," Beka rushed forward and pulled Harper up into an embrace.

"Ow," Harper grimaced when Beka held too tightly, aggravating his healing torture wounds and she quickly let him go, so he could lie down once again. "Beka, what's going on?"

"We're not sure," Beka offered and glanced behind her, as another couple of figures came into view.

"Dylan, Rommie," Harper recognised but found no further information to pull from. "Great to see you guys," he stressed.

"You've looked better," Beka was forced to admit, and she checked the tubes connected to Harper's arm and then adjusted the thin clear tube running around Harper's face, feeding oxygen into his nose. "You need to eat, Seamus, you're under weight and very weak, the doctors are worried."

"Eat?" Harper checked. "Am I in hospital?"

"No," Beka frowned and glanced behind her once again. "You're in a holding facility but this refusal to eat, it has to stop, you're growing weaker by the hour now, dangerously so."

"I'm starving," Harper stated, as if just realising.

"We can see that, so eat something," Beka stated with concern.

"They haven't given me food, at least I don't think they have," Harper stressed, still lying on his side wearily looking up at his visitors, finding it a task to remain alert feeling the drag of tiredness pulling at his senses.

Dylan moved forward. "They informed us they brought you in trays of food but you refused to touch or even acknowledge them."

"They did?" Harper queried, with a confused frown.

"Over here, there's fruit and packet food right here," Rommie noticed and all eyes moved to the table.

"Oh," Harper realised, he couldn't recall when that had been left there.

"Are you seriously telling me that you failed to spot food, Seamus Harper?" Beka smirked.

"I never thought to eat," Harper spoke with concern.

"Well you're receiving something at least, nutrients you need right now," Beka gestured to tube feeding into his arm and directly into his blood supply.

"That's for food?" Harper checked.

"You still have to start eating, you're only harming yourself by refusing to," Beka stated firmly.

"I'll eat," Harper assured her, but inside his fears and confusions were clashing head on, and he had no idea what was truly going on.

"Harper," Beka caught his attention with her sudden change in tone. "Why aren't you talking to the people here, you seem chatty enough to me."

"I didn't know who they were," Harper offered. "Am I on their side?"

"Are you?" Beka asked.

"I don't know," Harper admitted, and Beka wasn't helping with her return questions.

"Are you loyal to Tyr?" Dylan stepped forward. "We need to establish that before we can proceed, and help you, Harper."

"What happened to Tyr? I don't remember," Harper stressed.

Beka took a deep breath, and then placed a friendly hand on Harper's arm, kneeling beside his cot so she was able to look him in the eye. "We need to know if you're fighting for us, or against us, Seamus."

Harper looked even more confused for a moment before he looked at Beka. "Whatever side you're on, I'm on, you know that," he answered, as his instincts to trust Beka kicked in.

"Then talk, and co-operate or things could get seriously messy," Beka insisted.

Harper closed his eyes realising Beka didn't understand the situation he was dealing with. He trusted Beka, but didn't know why; he felt a familiarity and comfort from the people now with him that he'd so far failed to feel with any of the other people he had seen since arriving. He'd not felt that since he'd last seen Tyr, but this felt better, more reassuring to him and Harper decided he had nothing to lose by trusting his instincts and making Beka an ally.

"I tried to talk," Harper began. "I kept telling them I didn't remember but they'd keep asking, I can't tell them anything because I don't know what the answers are," Harper stressed. "I don't have any answers," he added, almost pleading and needing them to understand.

"What do you mean?" Dylan asked.

"The ubers beat me, tortured me for information I don't have, and now these guys are shouting at me," Harper showed his frustration as he moved onto his back and looked up at the ceiling, closing his eyes. "Something isn't right inside, I think it's the implants but I don't know exactly, I just don't remember anything, I'm lost, no memories," Harper announced solemnly.

"You've lost contact?" Rommie picked up and moved to Harper's side. "You can't lose the connection, it's nearly impossible."

"Only nearly," Harper offered with a frown. "Doesn't mean impossible."

"So wait a minute, if you're no longer hooked up to the implants," Beka began.

"It means I'm only working from my human brain," Harper finished for her.

"Which is damaged and further restricted by the implants connection to your mind," Rommie deduced. "You didn't refuse to eat, you forgot, or failed to recognise that you needed food."

"I guess," Harper tried to agree.

"Harper, what does this mean?" Beka sounded worried, and Harper sensed a deep connection to her, wishing he could remember why.

"I can't recall any memories or information, I'm working off what little my human brain can remember I think," Harper stated. "I know you all, I know something is wrong with my head, the basics, but I don't remember a thing after that," he explained.

Beka moved away needing to think, as Rommie moved to kneel beside Harper. She placed her hand on the side of his face, and she seemed to know how weak he was as she closed her eyes. Unsure, Harper didn't react and let Rommie proceed and waited until she opened her eyes again.

"We need to get Harper to Sinti, and quick," Rommie decided on opening her eyes.

"What?" Harper asked. "Where?"

"You need to return to Sinti and have emergency work on fixing your implants before it's too late, and the damage is irreversible," Rommie stated firmly.

Harper suddenly felt tense, and his hands gripped the sheet of his cot. A sudden build up of pressure seemed to be growing inside of him and without warning Harper found his body spasm before he was hit was an intense fit that he couldn't control.

"Harper!" Beka rushed to his side.

"We can't do anything but let it run its course," Rommie reminded both Beka and Dylan who looked desperate to help, as Harper fought the fit that had taken him over.

"Not again," Beka feared.

"His brain can not cope with being so active, without the support of the implants," Rommie frowned with concern. "The damage is still there but no longer suppressed by the implants, the only difference now is that the fits are not life threatening. However the longer we wait to get those implants reconnected, the more frequent the fits will be until there is no beginning or end, just always. Then the Harper we know will not be recognisable, he will be incapacitated and trapped inside a brain damaged mind and body."

"We have to get him to Sinti," Beka stressed, as she moved to hold Harper tight as he recovered from the fit that was slowly calming down. "How long have we got?"

"I would suggest haste in getting him to Sinti, to be safe," Rommie advised.

"What the hell is Sinti?" Harper asked.

"Now do you understand why he's not co-operated, Dylan? The so called brains of the Commonwealth have failed to recognise memory loss, injury and damage, we can't leave him here," Beka stated with anger.

"I'll speak to Tri-Jema," Dylan decided. "Don't leave him alone, we can't risk any further errors."

"We're going to help you, Harper," Beka assured him. "I don't know what Tyr's done to you but I promise he will pay for this."

Harper frowned on hearing the anger towards Tyr, but very little made any sense that he decided to just play along, having given up trying to understand what was going on.

TBC


	35. Chapter 35

Part 35

Tyr sat silent, contemplating his position as he glanced at the various incoming reports. The Commonwealth fleet, along with the Drago Kazov had formed a formidable barrier, and Tyr was strong enough to admit that at that moment he was not strong enough to take them all on. Having ordered a retreat, and issuing a rendezvous point where his ships were to meet in a few weeks, Tyr knew he had a lot of thinking to do, and a lot of damage control to take care of.

The door to his office opened and Tabatha walked in with drinks and food. She placed the tray down and then sat next to her husband.

"There are no reports of any survivors at the base after the destruction," Tabatha quietly relayed, and she saw her husband tense slightly. "I'm sure the Commonwealth found Harper."

"You failed in your mission, and now I have to ask if that was purposely done," Tyr stated with his attention fixed on the reports scattered across his desk.

"I went back to get Harper but I was already too late, his cell was destroyed and he was no where to be found," Tabatha stressed. "You have to believe me, why would I even attempt to lie?"

"I know of many reasons," Tyr got to his feet. "Harper may have been only a kludge in your eyes, but he has a great mind and he would have been of use to us in the coming years, I had convinced a man who hates our kind to work with us and that was a breakthrough that you have destroyed."

"We can find good engineers at every drift this universe has, of all makes, species and sizes," Tabatha attempted to explain.

"Seamus Harper was the Commonwealth's top engineer, why would we settle for anything less?" Tyr demanded, and Tabatha had no response.

"If he was so precious to our cause, then why did you allow him to be tortured and those old feelings of hatred be reawakened?" Tabatha challenged.

Tyr stared at his wife now, and slowly rose to his feet. "I needed to know that he was loyal to our cause and that he wanted me to trust him."

"There are other ways," Tabatha responded.

"I wanted to test him, when we were on the Andromeda he was put to the ultimate test by having the three senior command crew trying to capture him and that was the Harper I wanted serving for me," Tyr explained. "He managed to escape using his brain and determination, before that day I had no interest in his abilities but after, I knew I had found a worthy engineer for my pride but I wanted to encourage that survivor to come out, that Seamus Harper was the one that we needed."

"So you did set Harper up?"

"I asked Gerd and Vandes to keep an extra careful eye on him, fed them rumours of a spy knowing they would pick on Harper as the obvious choice," Tyr revealed without emotion.

"So there is no spy?" Tabatha checked.

"It's come to light that maybe my own ruse has afforded another an adequate cover," Tyr looked at Tabatha in a way that momentarily froze her. "As yet I have no clues of their identity."

"Are you sure Harper wasn't the spy?" Tabatha asked.

"Not entirely sure, no," Tyr admitted. "But as much as he left me wondering about his true identity amongst my pride, enough evidence exists to suggest he was being used, as he himself insisted to me."

"So it's a good thing he's gone, taking him out of the equation," Tabatha considered, as Tyr took one of the drinks and moved away.

"I have not forgotten your lack of concern or care for my orders," Tyr stated, and Tabatha felt Tyr's hands come down onto her shoulders where she sat, he was now stood behind her and his fingers began to manipulate her skin and muscles.

"I tried to redeem my actions, and I can only beg for forgiveness for so long before I drive myself mad," Tabatha softly returned.

"Why did you access Harper's port?"

"What?"

"Gerd and Vandes told me you were with Harper, at a time I estimate that his port was in use," Tyr explained calmly. "I couldn't figure out how Harper could have accessed it without the tools he needed to do so, and then how he could be so convincing in the fear he showed when I accessed the port roughly an hour lately. The pain it caused him also confused me, which meant you must have also rendered Harper unconscious but Gerd tells me he awoke soon after you left showing no ill effect or grogginess past what they had done to him," Tyr finished and waited for Tabatha to speak, his hands now firmly holding her shoulders as he stood behind her. "You lied to me when you showed surprise to me informing you Harper had an on off switch, you clearly knew about it, how?"

"Harper told me, and I didn't lie to you," Tabatha answered.

"You showed surprise yet you already knew, so why did you deceive me?" Tyr demanded. "And I find it hard to believe that Harper would tell you such a thing willingly."

"He did, and I accessed his port to check for the same thing you did," Tabatha relayed. "I wanted to see if he had stored any information inside his port that could be used against us."

"You continue to lie."

"Tyr, you have to believe me!" Tabatha demanded as she turned to face him.

"So you can continue to deceive me?" Tyr challenged and Tabatha could only stare at him. "I received a coded message from an old friend, it was a most surprising communication and very unexpected but it made me realise that maybe I do still have people I can trust in the most unexpected places."

"You believe this supposedly trusted source over your own wife?"

"I do when my own wife fails to inform me that she was Commonwealth, and that her original intentions in joining my pride were to spy for the enemy, and for all I know that could still be her intentions," Tyr stressed and folded his arms. "You have made a fool of me, and have seriously jeopardised my plans that I have been working on all of my life."

Tabatha sighed and closed her eyes. "The message I placed into Harper's port was simply a last transmission that also contained my intentions to stand down my commission with the Commonwealth, and dedicate my future to you and your pride, Tyr, I love you and I wasn't planning on that, I freely admit that fact," Tabatha rose to her feet.

"So that is why you let Harper go, to play messenger?" Tyr asked and Tabatha slowly nodded her head. "Did you, in this last transmission, tell the Commonwealth about our strategic positions, about the base?" Tyr asked, and Tabatha only nodded her head. "Then you used Harper as your cover, and made it possible for the Commonwealth to rescue him so your message could be collected."

"Yes," Tabatha stated.

Tyr moved back to his desk and sat down with a heavy sigh. "You continue to lie to me, and you leave me very few options."

"I am speaking the truth," Tabatha argued.

"Only the truths you wish me to know, and only once I already know them," Tyr snapped. "I can not trust you after you have already betrayed me."

"I have admitted that I came to your pride as a spy but I was not planning on falling in love," Tabatha spoke with passion. "I have given up my life so I may serve you and follow your dream."

Tyr considered her words and met her stare. "You considered Harper a threat."

"He undermined you," Tabatha stated.

"He was not that powerful," Tyr argued.

"By having him here you were subject to ridicule regardless of his skills he stood as a threat to your sanity and leadership, and I agree that he is a great mind but his place was not here with the Kodiak Pride, for both your sakes I worked to ensure both your survivals."

"How can he help me if he is back with the Commonwealth?" Tyr questioned.

"He has already shown an unwillingness to defeat you, and a trust that you can not bring yourself to find for him, as the needless torture proved," Tabatha argued. "I am not sure what damage you have done to that bond by your own actions, but he would not have survived among us for much longer. You know our people are too proud to have his kind work alongside us, you Tyr, are a good man and the exception to that rule."

"Don't try and flatter me," Tyr dismissed.

"Harper was not playing games, he truly did not have any answers, and he was suffering head injury and memory loss," Tabatha revealed. "Even more reason for my efforts to have him captured by the Commonwealth, if you do respect his great mind like you claim then you should see my actions were noble."

Tyr now turned to Tabatha, and his expression gave nothing away. "How did the damage occur? You seem to have all the answers I seek so do tell me how Harper suffered such an injury to his implants and brain before anyone had even touched him in anger."

"I regret that I played a part in damaging his connection to his implants," Tabatha lowered her head. "The original file I uploaded into his port was corrupted, enough that it severed the core code by which Harper relied on for his implants to work. I was using an old scanner that I acquired from the machine shop, I realise now my error and I tried to rectify it but with regret I could not."

"You think I'm a fool," Tyr simply responded and then activated the large screen. Tabatha watched open mouthed as images of her smiling over Harper's body played back to her, and her words of enjoying messing with Harper's head were heard as her amused features were clear to see. "Another thing I learnt from my time with the Commonwealth, the walls should always have eyes and ears."

"I surveyed the cells, I never found any such device that suggested surveillance," Tabatha showed her surprise as she moved closer to the screen.

"Harper is just as devious as he is a genius," Tyr simply acknowledged. "It is somewhat ironic that my first need to scan the security system Harper installed was to prove his own innocence, it's just a shame that it now means my wife will be banished from my own pride and Harper is no longer a part of my plans."

Tyr gestured to his guards and despite her protests and struggles, she was taken away and Tyr returned to his desk without so much as a frown, as he resumed his work in reviewing the reports that needed his attention.

---

Harper was led along the long corridor, with Beka walking beside him. The two uniformed men ensured they kept a brisk pace, despite Harper's weakened state.

"Can we at least slow it down a little?" Beka requested, seeing Harper was perspiring and breathing heavily. To her surprise the pace was dropped enough for Harper to focus and before long they reached the room they were being taken to.

At the door Beka saw Harper tense but suddenly he became agitated and panicked, as he tried to back away. "No!" he screamed. "No more torture, please no!" he yelled with panicked tones as he struggled to get past the guards and get away from the open door.

"Harper!" Beka grabbed hold of him as the guards struggled to contain him, but Harper was too determined to get away. "Harper, it's ok, I'm here, you won't get hurt, I promise," Beka stressed, grabbed hold of his face so he was looking at her. "It's just a room, that's all."

Harper finally seemed to focus enough to stop struggling, but he was clearly frightened. The guards looked at Beka who just nodded her head, and they encouraged Harper, using their hold on him, into the room.

They stopped and allowed Harper a moment to glance around, and on seeing no evidence that it was a torture chamber, Harper noticeably relaxed and the guards were able to leave him and Beka alone, locking the door behind them. The turn of the lock caused Harper to spin around with panic, but Beka was quickly by his side.

"It's ok," Beka assured him. "I'm here, everything is ok."

"Where's erm," Harper took some breaths before speaking. "Rommie, Dylan?"

"Working with those in charge to get you out of here, but until then we have to play along, but I'll be with you, ok?"

"Ok," Harper spoke in understanding, but his reaction to the room had startled Beka to the core. She looked at Harper now, seeing his raw emotion and fear to his situation.

"Let's sit down," Beka gestured to the four chairs and a table that represented the only furniture in the room. Beka led Harper to the chairs and she sat next to him as he got comfortable putting his head into his hands rubbing his face, and then she took a moment to look at her friend. "What do you remember, exactly?" Harper shrugged, and then looked around the room and Beka realised he was checking for bugs, a natural instinct he had picked up at a young age. "You can trust me, us, the Commonwealth, and I know you have nothing to hide," she further assured him.

"I remember bits and pieces," Harper offered, in a tone that Beka recognised as the genuine Seamus Harper, the rare times you'd break through and find out his true feelings or fears. His voice lacked the spontaneity and manic levels usually associated with the genius engineer, and carried a seriousness that very few heard. "I know names, but I have to rely on my gut as to whether I actually know a person or not, and even then if my gut says I do I have nothing to remember that person by, it's just gone."

"You mean you actually remember nothing about us, but you just know in your gut that we're friends?" Beka checked.

Harper shrugged again. "I guess, its more like I feel a familiarity, more so with you but I feel it as well with Dylan and Rommie, I can recall your names so that's something," he struggled to make sense and his uncertainty was apparent.

"I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like to have no memories," Beka spoke freely.

"I have some memories," Harper offered. "Just recent ones, but even those I think are sketchy, and I can still communicate so I don't quite get the actual loss I'm experiencing, it's so precise, you know?"

"What happened with Tyr?" Beka asked calmly.

Harper was once again shrugging, lacking his usual confidence as he brought his hands down to the table and stared numbly ahead. "I don't know, I don't remember much, just," Harper paused and noticeably tensed. "Just the torture or bits of it."

"Do you remember why they hurt you?"

Harper was already shaking his head. "They wanted information I think, but I couldn't answer them, I didn't know."

"What did Tyr do to you?"

"Nothing, not really, and I think I was angry with him for doing nothing," Harper focused on his hands, as they nervously fidgeted on the table. "Two other ubers did the torture," he spoke and then went silent, bringing his hands to his face again.

Beka moved her hand to comfort her friend, resting it around his shoulders but immediately Harper shirk her touch away and quickly got to his feet pushing the chair back as he moved away. Beka stood up looking horrified. "Harper, its ok, I'm sorry, come back here and sit down, please?" she encouraged softly, but she could now see the pain and tormented expression on her friends face. He looked lost and confused, as he stood awkwardly a short distance away.

"I don't know who I am anymore, who anyone is," Harper began, his voice trembling. "I don't remember anything, how did I get here what am I doing with ubers, tell me what the hell is going on!" he demanded, his voice growing louder and more desperate.

Beka let her head drop, her own emotions building now and she knew she couldn't tell Harper everything he wanted to know. She couldn't do this, not now and his words haunted her as she considered the answers, knowing the part she had played that had led Harper to this moment.

"I need to get some air," Beka made excuses and moved towards the door.

"Don't leave me," Harper's voice was pleading. "You said you wouldn't. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have shouted, I shouldn't have reacted like that, please," he added, seeing her stop by the door.

"You have nothing to apologise for Seamus," Beka's voice was low, but she turned to face him. "And I won't leave if you don't want me too."

"Thanks," Harper offered, finally making eye contact before he moved back to the table and took his seat again. After a moment of thought, Beka returned to his side and they sat in silence until the door opened and a man wearing a Commonwealth uniform entered.

"Seamus Harper, good to see you out of bed," he greeted with a smile. "And you must be Beka Valentine, my name is Joseph Zanis, I am assigned to Harper to try and determine the circumstances of him arriving here."

"From what I understand we brought him here," Beka challenged.

Zanis smiled in a way Beka recognised as humouring her. "Harper resisted our efforts to rescue him, and has so far offered us little or no information about his time with the Kodiak Pride," Zanis explained.

"He was not a spy, so why should he?" Beka asked.

"This session is with Seamus Harper, if you would respect that," Zanis answered.

"You do understand that Harper is in need of medical help, that his implants have a fault that is making it impossible for him to remember anything?" Beka checked.

"I am aware of these claims, and developments," Zanis agreed. "We need to determine his state of mind ourselves."

"Tyr thought I was playing games too," Harper remarked without emotion.

"He would," Beka sighed with annoyance. "Listen, Rommie, the Andromeda Ascendant's avatar has established the need to take Harper to Sinti immediately, so why haven't you determined the same, you have doctors here, right?"

Zanis looked at Harper. "Right now Harper is displaying classic signs that interrogators such as I recognise as holding back information, and I am not surprised his own former crew mates will do what they can to protect him, now I only agreed to you sitting in on this session in the hope it would possibly encourage Harper to speak, but this is proving not to be the case."

"I keep telling you I don't know anything," Harper spoke up. "He won't believe me, Beka, I keep telling him."

Beka saw the frustration in Harper and looked at Zanis. "Trust me, I know Harper better than anyone and he is not holding back information, he is genuinely in need of help and he can only get that on Sinti."

"I would like some time with Harper alone, please," Zanis announced but Beka remained seated. "That would involve you leaving the room."

"I promised Harper I wouldn't leave," Beka returned.

"Then that was a silly thing to do, as I have authority here and I am asking you to leave," Zanis countered and stared at Beka.

"Don't leave," Harper requested and grabbed hold of Beka's hand. "He'll start shouting again, calling me names, I don't like him."

"Stop playing her, Seamus," Zanis was already growing agitated.

"He's playing nobody," Beka defended. "I will not leave and you will stop bullying him."

"He is not a child, at least he wasn't yesterday when he was calling me all the names under the sun," Zanis implied.

"He's lying, I never did," Harper was quick to mention.

"Quit playing these games, Seamus Harper and start talking, tell us what we want to know, what are Tyr Anasazi's plans?" Zanis asked, getting to his feet to pace the room and further intimidate the human engineer.

"I don't know!" Harper yelled back, and Beka became aware that this had been an ongoing argument between the two, and she wondered how many times Harper had been subjected to this. His fear and confusion made more sense now, as she saw Zanis as nothing more than an oversized bully. Beka moved to put her arm around Harper in support and this time he didn't shirk her away, so she held him close to her as Zanis continued his tirade.

"Tell me about Tabatha," Zanis now asked.

"Who?" Harper offered.

"You know who," Zanis persisted. "We have it on good information that she told you things to pass onto us, once we had rescued you, so tell us what you know!"

"I don't know anything!" Harper snapped, and moved closer into Beka's hold like a frightened child.

"Stop this, please, he doesn't know anything," Beka requested as calmly as she could.

"You should leave, you are not helping," Zanis complained and moved to the door gesturing to the two guards stood outside. "Take the lady away, she is hindering my progress."

"No!" Harper yelled and clung to Beka as the guards approached.

"Please, we have our orders," one of the guards gestured to Beka, and made a show of letting her see he was armed.

"I'll just be outside, I won't be far," Beka reluctantly agreed.

"Please," Harper begged. "Don't leave me with him; he's going to hurt me."

Zanis just laughed and Beka glared at him before he spoke. "You know I won't hurt him, I'm just after information and it's against Commonwealth policy to torture."

"Harper, you'll be ok, I promise," Beka assured Harper as she released herself from his hold, and then she looked at Zanis. "He's confused and disorientated, his memories are lost, please just bare that in mind, he's speaking the truth when he says he remembers nothing. That Seamus Harper is just a shell of the Seamus Harper that served for the Commonwealth, you have to respect that."

"We have to determine that he is not tricking us, we can not assume that just because he is back with us, that he is Commonwealth again. He has spent the past four months serving the Kodiak Pride after defecting from the Commonwealth, and we can not ignore that fact," Zanis stated. "I am just doing my job, in the name of protecting the Commonwealth."

"Look at him, open your eyes and see the abuse he has taken, he served no ubers, they tortured him, and he's no defector," Beka sneered, before being escorted from the room.

Harper sat back in his chair as Zanis approached. "You used her well, you almost convinced me of your innocence."

Harper offered a smirk. "It was worth a shot, she seems protective of me."

"Why do you play these games?"

"Because I don't understand the rules," Harper shrugged. "But the lady is right, I don't remember anything and I keep telling you this fact."

"The Andromeda captain, Dylan Hunt, is putting together a convincing case to suggest you are suffering brain damage and a disconnection from your implants," Zanis admitted. "But I know deep down that you know more than you are letting on."

"If I do, I don't know about it," Harper shrugged.

Zanis slammed his hands down on the table in front of Harper, making the human jump and they both stared at each other. "I am guessing that you have friends in the right places, and the legendary Dylan Hunt will not back down until he has convinced the council of your problem," Zanis hissed, his face practically touching Harper's now. "But you will not leave this room until you have told me something, anything about what you know with regards to Tabatha."

Harper slowly smiled, feeling no intimidation. "She's a great kisser?" Harper offered and before he realised what had hit him, Harper was landing heavily on the floor and the room was spinning. Things seemed to go black before he then sensed a commotion around him, and heard his name through the noise.

"Seamus? Speak to me, please, Seamus," Beka's voice broke through.

"He hit me," Harper gasped, getting his senses.

"I know, I'm so sorry I would never have left if I thought for a moment he would," Beka insisted and brought Harper close, embracing him.

"It's ok," Harper managed. "I'm good," he offered and smiled over Beka's shoulder at Zanis, as he was escorted under armed guard from the room. "He seriously lost it."

"I know," Beka reasoned. "It should strengthen our case to get you out of here."

"Where will I go?"

Beka pulled Harper back and looked at him. "The Andromeda," she answered as if it was obvious.

"Ok," Harper nodded his head.

"You do remember the Andromeda, right?" Beka checked.

"Kinda," Harper shrugged. "I know how to spell it," he added, as it became clearer to Beka that he only had the vaguest of memories of his former home.

"The sooner we get you to Sinti the better," Beka stressed and helped Harper to his feet. "Are you sure you're ok, no double vision or dizziness?"

"No, I'm good," Harper insisted, as Beka checked the bruise that was forming on his right cheek bone.

"You weren't enticing him, were you?" Beka thought to ask as she led him out of the room, followed by an armed guard.

"Me?" Harper offered innocently. "To hit me? Come on, I'm not stupid."

Beka allowed a smirk as she put her arm around his shoulders, happy that he no longer shirked away from her touch. "I'm going to have to keep a very close eye on you, aren't I?"

"How close?"

"Close," Beka returned.

"Like sharing a shower close?" Harper ventured, and received a light tap on the head in response. "Hey, watch the head; watch the head, damaged goods remember?"

"Any more suggestions like that and that won't be all that will be damaged, Seamus Harper," Beka teased, as they headed back to his holding cell.

TBC


	36. Chapter 36

Part 36

"So beautiful," Harper spoke with awe, as he stared out towards the stars and saw the looming beauty of the Andromeda Ascendant approaching.

"Thank you," Rommie returned, standing by Harper's side behind the railing on the Eureka Maru bridge.

"That's one thing I haven't forgotten," Harper smiled. "Though till now, I wasn't sure if it was a dream or real."

"Oh it's real all right," Beka spoke up from the pilot's chair. "Have you eaten today?"

"Yeah," Harper answered.

"He had a cereal bar twenty minutes ago," Rommie further answered.

Beka glanced back at Harper. "Make sure you get a meal inside you when we get on board."

Harper just nodded his head as he continued to stare at the Andromeda, and only barely acknowledged Dylan as walked through the entrance, and stood by Rommie. "We're clear to head to Sinti, they are waiting for our arrival with Mister Harper," Dylan announced.

"Excellent," Beka smiled. "I never thought I'd say this but I prefer Harper when he's a genius, I need to be able to throw broken stuff at him and be confident he'll fix them," she added with a grin.

"So you can justify throwing stuff at me?" Harper looked confused.

"You know what I mean," Beka returned.

"And I thought you loved me for my looks," Harper smirked.

"As far as your looks go, just grow your hair back, that's all I ask," Beka offered, as she glanced around.

"And here I was thinking I might keep the 'close shave being tortured by ubers look', worked so well for me on Earth," Harper responded mockingly.

"How'd you know that?" Dylan caught.

"What?" Harper offered.

"Earth, the shaved head look on Earth, how'd you know that if your memories of that time are gone?" Dylan questioned.

"I don't know, I just said it without thinking," Harper answered a little unsure.

"He was just joking, Dylan, what's with the third degree?" Beka asked.

"I get he was joking but he made a reference about himself from what must have been some kind of memory, possibly the last time he had a shaved head, we can't ignore that reference," Dylan insisted.

"I was just saying," Harper looked troubled. "I don't even know if I've ever had a shaved head before, I associated it with ubers because they were the ones that did this to me now," Harper attempted to explain.

"But you mentioned Earth," Dylan persisted.

"Dylan, I'm not sure where you are going with this questioning, are you doubting Harper's memory loss?" Rommie now asked.

Dylan took a moment to collect his thoughts. "No, of course not," he finally concluded. "I'm sorry, Harper, I understand that you were just joking."

"Yeah, no harm done," Harper shrugged. "I think I'm going to go and lie down, I have a headache," he offered and left the Maru's bridge.

"Care to explain what that was all about?" Beka soon asked, once Harper was out of hearing distance.

"Didn't that strike you as funny?" Dylan asked.

"Mentioning Earth and a past experience at any other time would not have been strange from Harper, but now, considering what he has told us and from what little I have been able to scan him, it is odd that he should have the ability to recall such things," Rommie supported.

"So I'm not alone," Dylan sounded relieved.

"You both think Harper is lying?" Beka turned to look at them.

"Not lying, just maybe he's using the situation a little more to his advantage than maybe he's letting on," Dylan offered. "The Commonwealth may have been onto something by continuing his detainment."

"Don't you think the guy has been through enough without losing the trust of his friends as well?" Beka stated, clearly not impressed.

"You're right, we should focus on fixing his implants," Rommie agreed. "I'll go check on him, make sure his headache is not bothering him."

---

The dull thud was the first thing Rommie picked up on, and the gasped cry was what made her quicken her pace finding Harper moments later by the airlock, writhing on the deck. Quickly Rommie checked Harper was in no danger to himself as his fit continued to render him immobile, she remained close to him observing his life signs to ensure he was ok.

"It's ok, Harper, I'm here," Rommie comforted him as the fit continued to attack his every sense. The fits were different now, providing no danger compared to the previous ones. These fits were less severe, and they seemed more an agitation to Harper than painful, and part of him was fully aware of what was happening even though he was powerless to control them. After a few moments the movements slowed down, and Harper regained his mobility but remained on the deck as he recovered his composure.

"Are you ok?" Rommie asked.

"Tired," Harper spoke quietly, breathing heavily and he rolled onto his back. Rommie spotted the blood seeping from his nose and immediately motioned for Harper to remain still whilst she found a first aid kit. "Nose bleed?" Harper enquired with some confusion.

"You must have hit your head when you fell," Rommie concluded.

"These fits, the pressure inside me is intense," Harper explained.

"Maybe it's that," Rommie made small talk while she cleaned him up. "You have blood on your shirt, you should go change," Rommie suggested and helped Harper slowly to his feet.

"Thanks," Harper offered once they began walking.

"Dylan wasn't suggesting anything back there," Rommie then mentioned.

"I know," Harper shrugged. "I don't understand what's happening so I can't expect you guys too."

"Do you remember anything, I mean are you sure there's nothing?" Rommie enquired as they reached the crew quarters.

"That guy, Zanis?" Harper checked he'd remembered right. "He kept asking about Tabatha?"

"Tyr's wife?" Rommie prompted and saw Harper briefly nod his head.

"I mean I remember her, but nothing of note, least I can't think of anything to say about her but they didn't believe me," Harper looked baffled. "I don't know why they kept asking," he added as he found a clean shirt.

"She was Commonwealth," Rommie stated.

"Tabatha?" Harper turned to Rommie, as he removed his shirt and paused half way through. "Commonwealth? I don't understand, you mean like a spy?"

"She was originally assigned to infiltrate Tyr's pride, and report back to the Commonwealth," Rommie informed him.

Harper finished removing his shirt and reached for the new one. "So she was a spy?" he checked again.

"Harper," Rommie voice caused Harper to turn.

"What?"

"What did the Nietzscheans do to you?" Rommie asked, and Harper realised she was seeing the marks they had left on his body for the first time. Most had healed but the damage was still clear to see and Harper felt a little uncomfortable under her gaze, and more so when she reached out and traced a scar, he shirked away and quickly put on his shirt.

"Leave me alone," Harper requested sharply and backed away.

"Harper, I'm sorry," Rommie quickly returned but it was clear that Harper was a little shaken by her actions. "I don't know why I did that, it was stupid and I'm very sorry."

Harper still appeared troubled and remained silent to her words, he seemed uncomfortable in her presence now. "I don't remember ok? I don't even know for sure if you're a friend," he spoke shakily and then moved to his bunk.

"Harper I am a friend, always," Rommie insisted. "You built me, I would never be anything but your friend, and I am always there for you."

"Built you?" Harper checked back and his expression caused Rommie to freeze.

"You don't remember?"

"How many times do I have to say it?" Harper asked with frustration.

"Harper, you do know I am an android?" Rommie checked and the surprise on Harper's face was answer enough. "Do you remember anything about engineering or science at all?"

"I don't know," Harper shrugged. "I'm sure I've said I don't remember anything enough times but no one seems to hear me," he griped.

"Follow me," Rommie demanded and Harper didn't argue as she took his hand and led him directly to engineering. Harper stopped and looked around the expanse of space inside the engine room. He seemed in awe but also confused as to why he had been brought there. "We need a diagnostic run on the warp core relays."

"You do?" Harper questioned.

"I do," Rommie answered and stared at Harper.

"You want me to do that?" Harper checked.

"It's what you do."

"I do?"

"You do."

"Here?" Harper looked around. "I don't know how, maybe I did once but now, it's all gone, when I said I've forgotten everything I wasn't kidding, why doesn't anyone believe me?"

"You can't have forgotten," Rommie dismissed and she moved closer to Harper.

Harper was lost for words. "Well then I don't know what to say because babe, that thing you wanted doing, I can't do it."

"You can, that's the point," Rommie stressed, as Harper slowly backed away.

Harper scratched his head and looked around once again, as if looking for inspiration from somewhere. "I can't remember how, ok?"

Rommie slowly started shaking her head, her eyes fixed with his and inside she couldn't compute that the man who had built her, could no longer run the most simplest of engineering tasks. "Don't tell me you can't, when I know you can," Rommie stressed, needing to hear Harper say he could fix the ship, something inside desperately needed to hear him say those words.

"Look, Rommie, that's your name right?" Harper checked, suddenly unsure of himself but he continued when she didn't correct him. "I'm running on empty, I barely remember to keep breathing, I have to be told to eat and you're expecting me to know how to fix this heap of junk, can't be done, not by me."

"I don't believe you," Rommie finally spoke. "You don't just forget things like that, you don't."

"Well I have," Harper stressed with frustration and then realised Rommie had backed him up against the bulkhead.

"Why are you doing this?" Rommie asked and grabbed his hand. "Tell me again that you don't know how to fix this ship."

"Rommie," Harper tried to release his hand but she kept a firm grip, and he grimaced slightly with the pain.

"I helped you escape this crew, I've done nothing but stick by you and there is no way I'm going to let you play these games," Rommie insisted. "Tell me the truth!"

"Games, what games?" Harper asked the perspiration now visible on his face. "Rommie, I don't understand."

"Tell me the truth," Rommie insisted.

"Let go of me, you're hurting me," Harper again tried to remove his hand from her grasp.

"Guys, we've docked on the Andromeda," Beka announced brightly but stopped mid-speech seeing Harper struggling in Rommie's hold. "And you really don't care about that right now, what the hell is going on?"

"Harper, tell me again that you do not remember how to fix this ship," Rommie insisted. Harper continued to try and release his hand, getting more frustrated by his situation. Rommie stared at Harper. "You seem to remember I have a built in lie detector, don't you? That's why you won't tell me, because I'll know the truth," Rommie accused.

"What?" Harper offered with surprise.

"Rommie, back the hell off, what is this?" Beka demanded but the android was focused on Harper, not willing to let go.

"You wouldn't be struggling, or so afraid to speak if you didn't remember that fact," Rommie offered.

"Harper, what's going on?" Beka moved forward. "Rommie, speak to me."

"I don't know how to fix this ship!" Harper yelled and there was a moment where no one moved or spoke, before Rommie hastily let go of Harper's hand and he immediate saw his cue to leave as he pushed past Beka leaving her alone with Rommie.

"Rommie?" Beka moved in front of Rommie. "Talk to me."

"He's telling the truth," Rommie spoke with shock in her voice. "It's gone, all that we identify with Harper is no more, he's lost everything," her voice was weak and shallow, and she looked as though she was about to collapse.

Beka brought Rommie in for a hug, and she held the android close. "He'll be ok, once we get his implants fixed."

"You don't understand," Rommie pulled back. "When I scanned Harper before, my urgency stemmed from the fact his implants had failed, that they no longer worked, but I delved deeper this time and discovered it's worse than that, the implants have not malfunctioned they have been purposely disconnected, and there's no longer any information on them."

It was Beka's turn to appear shocked, and Rommie moved away. "I was hoping that Dylan had been onto something, that maybe Harper was hiding what he truly did remember to protect himself or something while he was in doubt about who he could trust, but there's nothing, he's telling the truth."

Beka stood staring at Rommie for a moment, simply stood against the railing as she considered Rommie's words. "Then we just have to ensure that we can hook those implants back up, get them working and just do what we can to get Harper his identity back."

"We can do that," Rommie agreed, still reeling from her discovery. "I have archives he can view for his time on the Andromeda, and no doubt you have some from the Maru."

"Yeah," Beka absently agreed. "It'll be fine, we can help him."

"We can and we must, it's our fault he's ended up like this," Rommie added.

"But you know what," Beka changed her tone. "As bad as this whole situation is there's a part of me, a sick selfish part of me that is celebrating the fact that Harper no longer remembers what happened to him on the Andromeda."

"There is no silver lining," Rommie dismissed, as she walked past Beka. "And I still remember what you did to him," she added, as she moved to leave.

"Rommie, get back here," Beka demanded. "I was not implying we pretend or forget it happened, I was just thinking about Harper."

Rommie took a moment to calm her self down. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that to sound like it did, I'm just having some problems dealing with the fact my creator can no longer do the simplest of engineering tasks, and has had his mind wiped like he's a machine."

"Right now things seem bad, but we know better than anyone how quickly situations can change, let's just focus on getting Harper to Sinti," Beka suggested.

"Agreed, we should focus," Rommie nodded her head, as if convincing herself to follow those orders.

TBC


	37. Chapter 37

Part 37

The corridors seemed endless and Harper walked down them with some fear, as he tried to take in what he was feeling. His mind was a mess of confusion and panic, and Harper wished for nothing more than for things to just start making a bit more sense.

"Do you need a friend?"

"Trance," Harper gasped turning quickly with the sudden appearance of the golden skinned alien.

"You remember me," Trance smiled.

"I guess," Harper partly shrugged, and began to start walking again.

"Would you like to pace these lower deck corridors alone for a few more hours, or can I join you?" Trance enquired.

"Keeping watch on me?" Harper asked over his shoulder.

"The ship keeps a watch on everything, Harper, you know that," Trance returned as she began to follow.

"See that's the thing, I don't," Harper responded, and continued walking ahead of the alien.

"How long do you think you can keep this up?"

"Keep what up?"

"The memory loss," Trance asked, somehow having caught up with the human.

"Great, so you think I'm lying too, well why not, everyone else does," Harper complained.

"Who are you protecting?"

"Protecting? I barely remember myself, how the hell am I supposed to remember who I'm supposedly protecting?" Harper snapped.

"This isn't Earth," Trance noted.

"You know I'm not dumb, I'd figured that out without the damn implants," Harper stressed, and tried to quicken his pace but Trance easily kept up. Trance then suddenly grabbed Harper's wrist and the sheer strength immediately caused Harper to yelp, before making him stop and she stared into his eyes. "What the hell, let me go!" Harper demanded but then froze on seeing Trance's eye's light up as if on fire with a golden glow that matched her skin. "You have something in your eye," Harper tried not to look but he was mesmerised and then he seemed to remember. "I know your secret," he spoke in barely a whisper. "I know what you are."

Trance seemed to be waiting for him to continue and she gave a brief smile. "Why do you pretend you have memory loss when they are all right there inside you?"

Harper narrowed his eyes and tried once more to move away from the hold Trance had on him. "Stop doing that."

"Doing what?"

"I can feel you, stop that," Harper requested. "Get out of my mind!"

"I'm not in your mind," Trance calmly returned and let go of him. "Why do you think I am?"

Harper eyes suddenly rolled back and his knees buckled as another fit threatened. Trance made sure Harper was supported as his body began to spasm, and she held him close against the bulkhead to protect him. The fit was only brief and Trance finally moved away as Harper regained control.

"I don't know what is happening," Harper admitted with fear.

"I needed to know," Trance spoke softly.

"What?" Harper asked with confusion, as he attempted to pick himself up.

"That you remember nothing," Trance calmly returned. "I believe you." Harper showed only fear now as he looked at Trance, and still on the deck he pushed himself further away from her. "Harper, I'm sorry, I needed to know if it was true."

"Get away from me," Harper warned, clearly troubled. "Stop messing with me, first you say they are all there and now you believe me when I say they are not?" he stressed.

"Harper I am your friend, I'm sorry if I've frightened you," Trance attempted to resolve the situation.

"If you were my friend you would have believed me the first time, like Beka, but you, Rommie, Dylan, no one believes me, only Beka," Harper stressed, trying to contain his emotions.

"I needed to know," Trance spoke with regret. "And I know now."

"Know what?" Harper asked. "I have no answers, I wish people would just stop trying to find them, I don't know!" he practically screamed, and then hastily covered his face with his hands.

"Trance, what the hell is going on?" Beka demanded having finally caught up with Harper.

"I think I may have misjudged the situation," Trance offered with guilt clear in her features.

"What did you do to him?" Beka asked with concern as she moved closer to Harper and put an arm around his shoulders, drawing Harper closer. "First Tyr, then Dylan, than Rommie, and now you? I'm beginning to think everyone has become Harper's enemy, doesn't anyone remember he's our friend, a part of our crew?" Beka snapped.

"Beka, I'm sorry," Trance was upset now.

"I'm not the one you should be apologising to," Beka returned. "If I didn't know better I'd say some of that gas has been released again," she stressed and then took a deep breath. "Is this why you didn't join us?"

Trance stood awkwardly for a moment. "For the past few months I have been troubled by visions, and they all relate to Harper and what he discovered about me," Trance admitted with a heavy sigh.

"Why didn't you say something?" Beka asked, still comforting Harper who remained quiet in her hold.

"Because Harper left, and I didn't want to be put in a position to have to explain exactly what he knew," Trance explained. "But I feared he may use it against me, the past few months I have feared Harper."

"He told me he would never say anything about what he learned," Beka stressed. "I told you he said that, and you didn't trust him?"

"He knows too much," Trance stated firmly.

"Well not anymore," Beka sighed. "So are you happy that you've traumatised him enough? Do you believe that he no longer remembers what he accidentally discovered?" Beka questioned, her mood reflecting her anger towards the alien.

"I wasn't thinking of Harper," Trance admitted and moved closer to where Harper now rested against Beka, both of them sat on the deck. Trance knelt down and brushed the side of Harper's face with affection, while the human simply stared at her with uncertainty. "I can not begin to imagine what it must be like to lose so much, all that knowledge and so many memories," she began to realise the extent of the problem. "But we should show caution, we need to protect him."

"Protect me from what?" Harper asked panicked. "And you said they were all right there, my memories, that I was only pretending," Harper spoke quietly, huddled close to Beka as if in fear of the alien.

"Ghosts of your memories remain inside your brain, Harper, but they do not contain enough substance to be of any use, they'll serve only your instincts and maybe you'll see flashes of them, but no more," Trance spoke with sadness.

"Is that why he can just say stuff without realising he's remembering a past memory?" Beka checked and saw Trance nod her head to agree.

"The flashes in my head, the feeling of familiarity," Harper murmured and then made to move. "Beka, do I need to eat? I think I do," Harper murmured, his eyes meeting with Trance full of doubt and suspicion.

"You should eat something," Beka agreed and helped Harper to his feet. "Trance, give it a few hours, let Harper get settled before you see him again, for both your sakes," Beka requested with understanding.

"I will, and I am sorry, I handled this badly but trust me it was with good reason, only right now you will not understand," Trance frowned, knowing she rarely made such errors of judgement and knowing she would not truly settle until she had made her peace with Harper.

---

Tyr strode into the holding cell on board his ship and glared at the women who had been his wife, but now the title was stripped and her lineage forever tarnished by her acts.

"A spy for the Commonwealth?" Tyr questioned.

"What we had was genuine," Tabatha spoke, keeping her head down as she sat at the table in her cell.

"I have a rather nasty mess to attempt to clean up," Tyr began, taking the seat opposite his former wife. "I need to patch things up with the Commonwealth, it's not in my best interest to keep them as the enemy, not at this time."

"You want me to help you?" Tabatha sneered.

Tyr examined her reaction and showed regret. "Your strength is what attracted me, blinded me, you have taught me a valuable lesson," Tyr noted.

Tabatha looked away, and offered an angered smirk. "I had a job to do, I have confessed that already but still you dishonour me by ignoring my confession and labelling me a traitor."

"I have little concern for your lineage," Tyr stated. "But I want to know what you did to Harper."

"The kludge?" Tabatha practically spat. "That little mud foot will be your downfall, not mine, you'll see," she goaded.

Tyr remained stony faced and showed no reaction to her words. "What did you do to him?" he repeated.

"I used him, just like he guessed someone was doing but no one listened," Tabatha smiled with satisfaction. "I was spying, Tyr, right up until I called it quits and I only did that once I'd uncovered all of your access codes."

"Access codes?" Tyr's attention was caught, and his fear rose when Tabatha lightly laughed.

"You didn't know I was a spy, and you also didn't realise my specialist skill was hacking, I hacked into Harper and that wasn't all," she further goaded, and began to laugh. "You are so arrogant you haven't even checked, have you? So confident your codes can not be broken, but think again."

"What have you done?" Tyr demanded.

"Some might call me calculated or just purely twisted," Tabatha now seemed to hold all the cards. "I fell in love with you Tyr but I knew enough about you to know you're a one man army, you don't work well in groups or relationships," Tabatha continued. "So I decided to get myself some security, just in case, and I really was wise to do so," she stated.

"Security?" Tyr questioned.

"Your claims, your quest, your pride," Tabatha announced. "Everything you stand for rests on those bones, without them, you have no evidence or voice."

"I have nothing to prove," Tyr defiantly stated.

"But your son will."

"My son?"

"Don't play me for a fool, the Commonwealth are more than aware of his existence and the importance you have placed upon him, he's the genuine reincarnation, Tyr Anasazi, you're just the warm up," Tabatha stressed. "You underestimate the Commonwealth Spy network at your peril."

"You speak of love but your actions from the start only demonstrate revenge or attack," Tyr observed.

"My actions demonstrate need, and hunger," Tabatha smiled fondly at Tyr. "You have hung around with humans for too long," Tabatha then mocked. "And talking of kludges, your favourite little one right now has all my secrets locked inside his head, and not you or the Commonwealth will be able to extract them, not even your boy genius," Tabatha declared.

"You are a fool to underestimate Harper," Tyr returned.

"That might be true, but when he told you he couldn't remember anything he was speaking the truth," Tabatha saved her biggest smile till last. "All I've heard is how great his mind is, and from what I saw it was enough to know that if he got suspicious about the downloads I'd been planting in him, he'd crack them and my information would lose its value, so I took out some security."

"Security?" Tyr checked.

"Security," Tabatha waved a small metallic box that Tyr recognised as data cell. "Harper hasn't forgotten, he's just been purged, the cost of trying to become more machine than man," she offered brightly.

"You removed his memories," Tyr remembered Harper's confusion.

"I did more than that, I downloaded the full content of his mind. It was easy once I'd cracked the Perseids laborious codes, the kludges weak brain damaged mind worked in my favour. Everything that is Seamus Harper, his knowledge, his identity and his memories were electronically transferred to the implants due to the damaged brain. It was genius if you think about the process involved, but me, all I saw was opportunity to free up the amount of space I needed to store all the information I wanted to keep safe and remove from here," Tabatha frowned. "No one can touch it but me, and now he's away from you and this pride, and deep within the confines of the Commonwealths best minds, as they try to help him, my secrets are safe and my revenge is complete. You take away my honour and tarnish my family line and in turn I take any chance you have of fulfilling the prophecies away from your grasp, your son will never be able to prove his worth, you lose," Tabatha finished and crossed her arms.

"What information does Harper hold?" Tyr asked without reaction.

"The access code and authorisation key, plus exact location of the bones you foolishly mislaid thanks to me," Tabatha grinned. "There's other stuff I've picked up along the way, deepest secrets from this universe at large, but related to you information on your key personnel, those strategy plans you so kindly let me browse through when you were called away urgently to a meeting that one time, basically enough detail that if by some miracle you do progress and become any kind of power, that I'll be there every step of the way to stop you."

Tyr took his time to answer, his eyes simply searching Tabatha's own. "You had no intention of being my wife, or serving the Commonwealth, this is more, so much more than you are letting on," Tyr decided, before getting to his feet. "Tell me who you really work for."

"I can do better, I can show you," Tabatha also rose to her feet and Tyr became suddenly transfixed to her face, on seeing her eyes turn a fiery red and he knew in an instant who she was, seconds before she flashed out of sight in a blaze of red.

---

"Are you ok?"

Harper glanced up at Beka and briefly nodded his head, before being handed a can of Sparky and some food on a plate. "It's hard to relax," he offered, simply staring at his food that he put down on the table. "Everything feels familiar, but at the same time I don't remember a thing," he sighed as he appeared lost in thought.

"Has to be tough," Beka consoled him, as she took the seat next to him.

"I remember bits, random bits of," he paused. "I don't know, stuff, flashes of things I just don't know," Harper attempted to explain, and he looked around the mess deck again. "I wish I could remember."

"So do I, Seamus," Beka frowned.

"What's going to happen to me?" Harper asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know, I mean," Harper paused, finding it hard to explain himself. "I don't remember anything, and people here are finding that hard to believe, and I used to have a use on this ship and I no longer have that use," he stressed.

"Harper, you're staying with me no matter what, this ship is big enough for you to stay as my friend, ok?" Beka assured him.

"Ok," Harper appeared to relax slightly, finding some comfort in her words.

"Don't worry about what's going to happen to you, because I'll make sure nothing bad happens, I will always look out for you and be there for you," Beka continued.

"Ok, I get it," Harper offered, and began to play with his food.

Beka backed off slightly, knowing her own guilt was talking now. "Eat it, Seamus, you still need to build your strength up," Beka suggested but watched as Harper just stared at the plate, after a few more moments and without word she put her fork down, moving her hand to Harper's she gently held it as she helped him to eat.

"I remember now," Harper offered after the second mouthful, and quietly Beka resumed eating from her own plate, keeping a watchful eye on Harper as he now fed himself.

Beka wanted to cry, and she struggled to contain her emotions as she focused on finishing her food. The sound of cutlery being dropped onto the table made Beka jump, and she instantly turned to Harper who now held his head in his hands, resting his elbows on the table.

"Harper?" Beka checked, her arm moving around his shoulders.

"I feel so stupid," Harper managed between his own pent up emotions. "I was just staring at that plate and the fork in my hand and I just couldn't remember," he stressed before completely losing it, his hands covering his face hiding the tears.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Harper, don't I keep telling you that?" Beka immediately brought him closer into an embrace. "I know this is difficult, and it's hard for me to see as well," she stressed, her own emotions breaking through as she felt a lone tear fall down her cheek. "But right now we're heading to Sinti and they'll fix this, I promise."

"Don't promise, Beka," Harper sniffed, hiding his face in her shoulder. "I'm not sure I can be helped, something inside just knows it."

"Let's not give up hope, remember who's ship we're on," Beka lightly reminded him.

"Dylan Hunt's," Harper declared and began to lightly laugh.

"See you do remember stuff," Beka joined in and they both looked at each other through tear rimmed eyes. "Let's just remain positive, and we'll get through this, like always," Beka suggested.

"I think I can do that," Harper agreed, wiping his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt. "I just need to remember," he quipped, leaving Beka to smile as she shook her head.

"Maybe you just have to learn," Beka suggested.

"Learn?"

"Start again, you've learned once you can learn all over again," Beka enthused.

"I'm not sure I can," Harper showed some doubt.

Beka moved her plate away and looked at Harper. "You're a natural Harper, you always have been and I don't see why you can't just learn the basics all over again and build from there, you don't have to be a genius to know what you're doing."

"But my brain is damaged," Harper offered.

"We'll get your implants fixed, get that port working again and take it from there, once you're all hooked up again you'll have the capacity to learn at the same rate you did five years ago when you first joined my crew," Beka stressed.

"Like a reboot?" Harper checked.

"If you know what that is, then I have no doubt you can do this, Seamus," Beka smiled broadly.

"Yeah," Harper joined her. "What happened to Tyr?" he suddenly asked.

"We don't know," Beka admitted. "And he shouldn't be your concern."

Harper frowned and looked at Beka. "I feel like I should be there, a reason, something but I don't remember what."

"Harper, you're staying here, there's no way I'm letting you go off to join his pointless quest again," Beka spoke firmly. "Besides he's got what he wants now, a pride of his own, a wife and a son," Beka stressed.

"His wife, Tabatha," Harper picked up. "That's it, that's what I have to do, I have to warn him."

"Warn him?" Beka questioned.

"She's not in love with him, she has other plans," Harper got to his feet.

"Harper, we know, she's a Commonwealth spy," Beka explained.

"Tyr doesn't know that, and she's double crossing the Commonwealth too," Harper stated with conviction.

Andromeda appeared suddenly in Hologram form. "Beka, as part of our agreement in having Harper on board, I have to ask that you continue this discussion with him with Captain Hunt present, in one of the holding cells."

Beka let her head drop, knowing the mention of Tabatha had alerted Rommie to their agreement with the Commonwealth facility who had released Harper to them.

"I'm still under arrest?" Harper checked unsure.

"Harper, it's not like that."

"Again, I may have forgotten but I'm not stupid," Harper stated with anger.

"We have to do this, we need to know about Tabatha, if you say she double crossed us then we need to act," Beka explained.

"It's just a ghost of a memory, I can't remember no more," Harper shrugged. "So there's no point wasting five hours interrogating me, because I have nothing more to add."

Beka remembered their conversation with Trance and nodded her head. "Rommie make a recording of Harper's words on Tabatha double crossing, and send it to the holding facility, we are not going to treat Harper like we would a prisoner."

"Understood," Rommie agreed.

"Thanks," Harper offered.

"Just make sure this isn't some elaborate decoy, don't give me a reason not to trust you," Beka warned, as she moved closer to Harper with concern.

"I'm not sure what I can say," Harper shrugged. "I need you to trust me, no one else does."

"We all do Harper, you're safe here," Beka assured him. "You should rest, you haven't had a fit for an hour or so and I don't want to push you too much," she offered fondly and escorted Harper from the mess hall back to his quarters.

TBC


	38. Chapter 38

Part 38

"Commander." Tyr turned around to face the young man who approached. "It's no use, sir, they are no longer on the ship," the boy stated, nearly out of breath from running.

"Once again the Kodiak Pride is abandoned," Tyr remarked, showing no reaction. "Do we know when Captains Gerd and Vandes departed?"

"All I know is they spoke with Tabatha in the holding cells and then we can just about make out some tampering with the ship's sensors, it was enough time for a small transporter to leave unnoticed," the young Neitzschean acknowledged.

"She told them, they know about Harper," Tyr spoke, more to himself. "You should go back to your pride, your family," he then instructed to the boy.

"I am loyal to you sir," the boy interjected.

"Maybe so, but now is not the time as I once thought, now is the time to move back and reassess the situation, I will call for you when I regroup," Tyr stated. "You've done well, and you have a great future ahead of you, but go," Tyr stressed and his eyes directed the boy the leave.

Once the young man had left, Tyr looked over to the command crew and gestured to the ships captain. "I will leave now," he instructed.

"If you wish for us to take you some place?"

"That won't be necessary, but I will call on you again when the time comes," Tyr returned.

"We will be waiting, we still believe in your calling, we know you are the one," the captain offered. "We will return to our home world and await your call."

"I will ensure no harm comes to your shuttle," Tyr simply stated before leaving command.

"Sir, where are you heading, just so we know?"

Tyr stopped and turned around. "The Andromeda."

"That's a Commonwealth vessel, is that wise, sir?" the captain returned.

"I have unfinished business, and that's the best place to start," Tyr answered and left the command section to prepare for his journey.

---

Beka walked protectively beside Harper as they navigated the busy streets of Sinti, heading towards the facility. Rommie walked the other side of him, and Dylan led the way. The suns of Sinti were bright, and the city appeared to be clean and fresh with the early morning air.

"Harper, are you ok?" Rommie asked.

"Tired," Harper offered in almost a whine. "My feet hurt," he added with a grimace.

"The soles of your feet are healed," Rommie pointed out.

"Still hurt," Harper returned.

"Harper, quit your moaning we're almost there," Beka stated, seeing the building ahead of them.

"You're weren't the one being tortured less than a week ago, and now being walked at frantic pace," Harper continued, sounding more like his old self now.

Dylan gestured for them to stop on receiving a communication. "Go ahead, Trance," Dylan ordered, seeing the transmission was from the Andromeda in orbit.

"Captain," Trance's voice came back. "We are receiving a transmission from Tyr Anasazi, he wishes to talk."

"Tyr?" Harper piped up with confusion.

"What does he want?" Beka added.

"Is he giving us any indication of what he wants to discuss?" Dylan asked.

"Only that it concerns Harper," Trance returned. "Information we need to know."

All eyes instinctively fell onto Harper, who naturally looked away with the attention. "Look, Tyr didn't hurt me, he didn't help me, but he didn't do the actual torture," Harper attempted to explain.

"He was in charge and that's just as bad," Rommie dismissed.

"Tell Tyr to tell us what we need to know, and quit playing games," Dylan ordered, and there was a silence before Trance came back.

"He says he's not playing games, Harper is in danger and you should show caution," Trance returned.

"Ok, he's got my attention, put him through," Dylan sighed and waited for the tones of Tyr to respond. "Tyr, I understand you now wish to talk."

"Is Harper with you?" Tyr asked.

"Just tell us what we need to know," Dylan stated.

"My Pride is disbanded, and two of my captains have deserted and I believe they are looking for Harper," Tyr responded.

"Why?" Beka asked.

"And who?" Harper added.

"Harper?" Tyr picked up and Dylan threw Harper an angered glare for revealing his location so easily.

"Lighten up, this is Tyr and I still trust him," Harper snapped and moved closer to the communicator. "I'm here, Tyr."

"I understand now that I did not act in your best interest, I have been told the truth," Tyr continued.

"That Tabatha is low life scum, glad you're on the same page at last," Harper stressed. "Next time be a little quicker, your goons almost killed me."

"Vandes and Gerd are the men I believe are after you," Tyr then revealed and Harper visibly paled.

"Oh crap, what the hell did I do to them? Didn't I scream loud enough the first time?" Harper stressed, with panicked tones.

"Who are they?" Beka asked towards Harper.

"The ones who tortured me, the lunatics Tyr so kindly left to take care of me," Harper moved away clearly troubled.

"Still trying to convince us that Tyr is the good guy?" Beka offered and Harper looked away.

"I admit I made some unwise choices," Tyr responded to Beka's words.

"Taking Harper from the Andromeda was the first one," Beka snapped.

"Hey, I wanted to go!" Harper shouted back, and then paused on seeing the reaction from his friends. "I mean, at the time, it wasn't just as much my decision as Tyrs, so quit giving him such a hard time, he's trying to warn me about those two nut jobs, give him a break," Harper quickly offered.

"Can you give us anymore about these men?" Dylan asked with resignation.

"Transmitting details now," Tyr returned. "I was wondering if I would be able to dock on the Andromeda, I have travelled through most of the past twenty hours and I need to recuperate," Tyr asked.

"Did I just hear Tyr ask if he can bunk on our ship?" Beka checked and saw Rommie give an equally surprised expression.

"Understand you will not have the access or privileges that you had before, but you are welcome to dock," Dylan offered, and saw Harper's appreciation to the gesture. Dylan knew Tyr had lost the battle, and if nothing else would relish the opportunity to remind him a few times.

"Understood, it will only be for a few days while I collect my thoughts," Tyr offered.

"You are welcome to stay for as long as you need," Dylan stated.

"Just don't get too comfy," Beka added before Dylan closed transmission.

"Rommie, be extra alert to any threats, Beka, stay close to Harper at all times and don't let him out of your sight," Dylan ordered.

"We're taking Tyr's words seriously?" Beka checked.

Harper scoffed. "If Vandes and Gerd are after me, then hell yes, we're taking them seriously."

"You remember what they did?" Rommie checked.

"All too clearly, the only time I wish I did forget," Harper frowned, as they began walking again towards the looming facility building.

---

"Did you pick any of that up?"

Vandes checked his device and only briefly nodded his head. "Tyr, we should never have trusted him." Both men watched from a short distance, as the small party entered the Sinti building.

"I blame the Commonwealth, they have destroyed a great warrior with mindless drivel, we should have known he'd go running back to them," Gerd returned.

"He's no longer our concern, his warning serves no purpose," Vandes remained defiant. "We need what's in that kludge's head, you heard the lady she told us the power that could be gained."

Gerd looked at Vandes with slight hesitancy. "She was crazy, don't you think?"

"If you truly believe that then why are you here?" Vandes demanded.

"I hate kludges that remain alive, unfinished business," Gerd answered.

Vandes considered a response. "You may kill him, but only after I get the information I seek," he stated.

"I think we have a deal," Gerd smiled broadly. "I still think she was a nut job, don't say I didn't warn you."

"Either way, we still get to kill a kludge so why complain?" Vandes reasoned.

"Can't argue with that, and a kludge that Anasazi values, makes the mud foot even more delectable," Gerd mocked.

"We have to act fast, they have brought him here to fix his head and I can't risk any damage to the information I seek, we go now and we do it quick, you with me?" Vandes checked.

"Right beside you, let's go, as planned," Gerd motioned.

---

Harper fidgeted as he looked at his coffee, all of them were now seated in the eating area awaiting attention.

"Everything ok, Seamus?" Beka whispered, sensing his tension.

"Yeah," Harper returned, though clearly he was still on edge.

"Need anything?"

"I'm good," Harper stared at his drink.

"You know what to do with that, right?" Beka checked, gesturing to the coffee.

"Yeah," Harper sighed, and brought the cup to his lips taking a sip. "I just like the idea that those two freak heads could be gunning for me."

"You're here with me, Rommie and Dylan, Harper, so relax," Beka assured him.

Harper took a deep breath and nodded his head. "I need to use the bathroom," he announced, and everyone got to their feet. "OK, feel free to join me," Harper spoke with some uncertainty.

"Safety in numbers, Mr Harper," Dylan stated. "Beka, Rommie wait outside," Dylan ordered as they headed for the bathroom.

"We were never planning on going inside," Beka confirmed, as she took a spot outside with Rommie taking the other side of the door.

Dylan simply smiled as he walked in first, and Harper could only smirk as he followed. The next moment was a sudden flash of activity, and a blur as Harper felt arms around him and a hand over his mouth preventing him calling out. When he regained his focus, he saw Dylan lying on the floor unconscious with Vandes stood over his body.

"Kludges, they can never go too long without the call of the nature being needed," Vandes announced with some satisfaction. "Now I'm guessing your lovely female company is just outside, tell me runt, do they know what we look like?"

Harper could barely move in Gerd's hold and his memory was taking time out to replay over and over the pain and torment the two Nietzschean's had put him through previously, he was afraid and unable to hide it. Rapidly he shook his head, but in truth he could barely remember if Beka and Rommie had seen a photo. Vandes moved closer and removed a knife from his belt that he placed with ease against Harper's neck, as the hand was removed from Harper's mouth.

"Call for your friends to join us, sound panicked and scared, shouldn't be too difficult for you," Gerd stated. "Say you accidentally knocked your captain out, claim a fit or something, use what's left of your imagination."

"Then what?" Harper asked between heavy breaths.

"Well, it can go either one of two ways," Vandes said with precision. "We know how kludges minds work, so it's really up to you." Vandes finished by heavily patting the back of Harper's neck, so hard he felt a sharp pain from the action.

Harper looked at his tormentors and his gut churned, they slowly removed the knife and backed away into the cubicles. Harper took some deep breaths, and then moved to lie on the floor, once he found the courage he yelled for Beka and Rommie. Almost instantly the door floor open, and Beka and Rommie raced in to find Dylan unconscious and Harper half lying on the floor.

"What happened?" Beka immediately went to Harper's side.

"I don't know, I suddenly felt dizzy and then someone grabbed me, and I lashed out, I think I hurt him," Harper stammered, doing his best to look unfocused.

"Dylan is fine, he should wake up soon," Rommie immediately announced, as she accessed her captain. "You must have lashed out with some force."

"Lucky strike," Harper shrugged, looking nervously towards the cubicles and back to Dylan.

Rommie checked Dylan again before pausing, and then looked at Harper. Her eyes told him she suspected something, and Harper was suddenly afraid, both for her and for him. "I need some air," Harper declared and hurriedly got to his feet.

At that moment one of the cubicle doors opened and Vandes stepped out, he glanced at the group of people around the fallen man and headed for the basins. "You're friend is a psycho, I saw him attack this man," he stated, seemingly unimpressed. "You should keep a tighter reign on him."

"We didn't ask your opinion," Beka returned not happy by a stranger's condemnation of her friend.

"Just saying," Vandes dried his hands, with Harper glaring at his every move.

"Stay with Dylan, Rommie, I'll go with Harper to get some air," Beka announced and took Harper's arm encouraging him to leave with her.

The sound of a flush and the other cubicle opened, Harper caught sight of Gerd exiting and asking Rommie if the guy was ok, even Harper was convinced by his acting concerned, and he felt sick to know he was playing his part in conning his friends.

"Beka, we have to get out of here," Harper hissed under his breath once they were clear of the bathroom. "I trust Rommie can looked after herself and Dylan, so we just have to run."

"Run?" Beka checked. "What do you mean?"

"Just hurry," Harper picked up the pace and began to push past people, with Beka in tow. Rapidly picking up the speed so they were running through the facility, Harper headed towards the exit and out into the daylight.

"Harper, stop, what the hell is going on?" Beka demanded.

"No, no stopping!" Harper protested and attempted to fight Beka, as she struggled to stop him running. "We have to get away from here, those two men back there in the bathroom are Vandes and Gerd, so come on!" he stressed.

"Right, running, good plan," Beka declared and no longer attempted to stop Harper.

"Ah!" Harper suddenly cried out, and came to a stop with a grimace. "No, not now, please," he stressed through clenched teeth, and his eyes were tightly closed.

"Harper, what is it?" Beka got a hold of his upper arms to keep him from falling.

"Fit, badly timed fit," Harper gasped as his body fell forward into Beka's hold, more by luck than judgement.

Beka looked back at the facility; they had barely got more then a hundred feet away and were now in broad daylight, in an open square. She saw the two men calmly walking out of the building, almost as if they expected that Harper wouldn't get too far if he ran.

"They drugged you, this isn't a fit," Beka whispered, holding onto Harper who was not suffering the usual spasms, he had simply collapsed in her hold.

"But I'm still conscious," Harper gasped.

"The drugs must have only affected your muscles, your motor functions," Beka tried to move with Harper but he was a dead weight in her arms.

"You have two choices, Miss Valentine, you hand him over and walk away without fuss, or you come with us, keep the kludge in check but you don't interfere, doing so could get him or yourself killed, so what's it to be?" Vandes calmly offered.

"You don't really want me along, so why offer?" Beka sneered, keeping a tight hold on the practically paralysed engineer in her hold.

"We know the kludge respects and responds to you, and that could work to our advantage," Gerd now spoke up. "We always do our homework," he added, as explanation.

"How about you just leave us the hell alone?" Beka asked. "That's my preferred option."

"If that was to be a third option, at this moment in time, that option would be your death, so take your pick," Vandes was growing tired of waiting. "You can't stall for too long, your precious captain won't awake for a number of hours and in truth, we're not really your patient kind of guys," Vandes spoke with mocking tones.

Beka took a deep breath, she had hoped that delaying these guys would give Rommie and Dylan and chance to realise what was happening, but she had to give the ubers credit, they had done their homework.

"Ok, I'll come with you, but you dare hurt Harper and I won't be accountable for my actions," Beka warned, keeping hold of Harper with all her effort, as the two Nietzscheans took their weapons before escorting them towards the spaceport.

"Interesting, I almost can't wait to see what you have planned because we almost certainly have hurt planned for your kludge friend," Gerd announced with joy.

TBC


	39. Chapter 39

Part 39

Dylan groaned and rolled onto his back, realising quickly he was on a cot and in some medical facility.

"Captain Hunt, I am so relieved," Hohne's voice broke the silence and Dylan squinted his eyes to the light.

"What happened, I feel like I was hit by a tornado," Dylan complained.

"A powerful drug," Rommie informed him. "You've been asleep for three hours."

"Harper?" Dylan was suddenly alert as he sat up and looked around.

"I'm sorry," Rommie's head went down. "I let both Harper and Beka out of my sight while I tended to you, they both went out for air and they never returned."

Dylan slowly took the news in and tried to think on his feet, but his head was still beating its own drum inside. "Do we have anything?"

"Visual confirmation that the two men I spoke to, who were in the bathroom just after you were found unconscious, were Vandes and Gerd," Rommie stated. "I believe they got Harper to call Beka and myself in here after rendering you unconscious and that set the trap."

"You said Beka and Harper left for air, when Vandes and Gerd were still in the bathroom?" Hohne spoke up, having listened to the exchange with interest.

"That would suggest they had ample time to escape?" Dylan checked.

"I thought that too, but the Maru is still docked and I have been so far unsuccessful in hailing them," Rommie answered.

"Maybe they don't want to be hailed," Hohne suggested.

"Or maybe Harper was part of the plan in more ways than we think," Dylan offered, as he swung his legs off the side and moved to sit up.

"Captain, are you suggesting that Harper purposely set us up?"

"Not just Harper, we get that call from Tyr just before we arrive seeking sanctuary," Dylan closed his eyes, having trouble thinking. "It just strikes me as odd that Harper continues to defend Tyr, then this."

"Dylan, Harper was genuinely terrified, at first I thought it was because he had hurt you but on further consideration it was because those two men were there," Rommie spoke assuredly. "The same fear he showed on hearing they were possibly after him."

"Can I blame it on head injury?" Dylan asked wearily.

"So Harper is still one of the good guys?" Hohne checked unsure.

"Until we have greater evidence to suggest otherwise, he's one of the good guys," Dylan confirmed and looked at Rommie with regret. "I'm sorry."

"We got into this mess due to forgetting Harper was one of the good guys, Captain," Rommie simply said before turning and leaving the room.

"Fascinating," Hohne remarked once she had left.

"Fascinating?" Dylan asked.

"How Harper created such a being, such a machine that could display human qualities so real she is able to remind the genuine articles exactly what those feelings are," Hohne explained with admiration. "Even more reason that I am determined to help young Harper, because it seems he needs all the help he can get."

"Ok, point taken, I was wrong and it happens sometimes, I got a bang on the head are people forgetting this?" Dylan griped as he jumped off the cot.

"Compared to what Harper's lost, his mind, his memories and the trust of his captain, what you have suffered barely registers, Captain Hunt," Hohne stated, displaying the closest the high guard captain had ever seen of Hohne's anger.

"Point taken, and noted, and I will fix this, I'll find Harper and do what I can to help him," Dylan confirmed.

"And I'll try to take into consideration that you lost consciousness, and awoke slightly stupid, but all is better now," Hohne half smiled. Dylan frowned and then shook his head, before leaving the room.

---

Beka was shoved into a chair and promptly found her hands taped securely to the frame, followed by her ankles.

"Sit nicely," Gerd smirked before moving away.

"Let me go!" Beka demanded.

"Oh don't make me waste valuable tape on your mouth," Gerd mocked a whine as he joined Vandes who was busy securing Harper by the same means to a similar chair a short distance from Beka.

Beka tested her binds and found them to be strong, the chair was made of metal and she knew she wasn't going anywhere soon. Looking over at Harper, she guessed he wouldn't be either. Harper was still suffering the effects of whatever the ubers had used to drug him, he was only vaguely responsive but conscious, as his body sunk into the chair and he put up little or no fight to being secured.

"What do you want from us?" Beka asked.

"Information," Gerd responded tiredly. "You think we'd go to all this effort if we just wanted to know the time?"

"I doubt you could work it out on your own," Harper piped up and then smirked, before finding a heavy hand around his neck pushing him back, as he gagged.

"Talk like that can get a kludge killed, understand?"

"And I do really believe you're dumb enough to go to all this effort to then just kill me," Harper challenged with mock innocence.

"Harper!" Beka snapped, fearing for her friend and doubting his sanity as he mocked the ubers.

Gerd smiled. "No it's ok, I can appreciate the attempt to undermine me, it's futile but an effort has been made, but he gets no applause," Gerd stated with arrogance.

"Can we just get this over with? Hunt would have already woken up by now and we can not be so sure they can't find us," Vandes stressed and immediately grabbed what he could of Harper's short hair and pulled his head back, as Harper yelped. "Did Tabatha tell you anything?"

"No," Harper stressed.

"Nothing at all?"

"Only that she was a Commonwealth spy," Harper spoke through the pain on Vande's hold on his hair.

"Yeah," Gerd frowned. "And the rest."

"The rest?" Beka picked up.

"Are you going to keep talking?" Gerd swung around with annoyance towards Beka.

"You brought me here," Beka countered. "You get to hear me talk."

"I have tape, I will use it," Gerd threatened.

Beka tried hard to conceal the smile, but decided to remain silent knowing her voice was all she had use of, and she didn't want to lose it.

Attention suddenly returned to Harper as a splash of water was heard and Harper cried out and tensed up, having been hit with icy cold water and drenched to the skin. Taking shallow breaths with the shock of the cold, Harper blinked the water out of his eyes and attempted to recover his senses.

"Thinking more clearly now?" Vandes casually asked. "Sorry our ship is so cold, we're not big on heating but I'm guessing it feels a lot colder now."

Harper was visibly shivering and Beka began to realise the position Harper was in, ice cold water was a tried and tested torture technique that she knew was just the start. Before she could say anything, Vandes produced a knife and pressed it flat to the skin on Harper's shoulder, and Beka saw a thin line of red slowly form as Vandes adjusted it to a slight angle, leaving Harper still shivering with closed eyes.

"Now tell us what we need to know," Vandes instructed.

"I don't know," Harper spoke with fear in his voice.

Vandes removed the knife and moved away, and Beka made eye contact with Harper as they sought strength from each other. They both looked over to Vandes on hearing a clatter of noise, and saw him walk away from an over stuffed shelf with a scanner and a jack cable.

"Don't use that, it's no use," Beka warned. "His port isn't working. We were on Sinti to get it fixed!"

"We know," Gerd spoke up. "We heard, you see that's how we knew where to find you."

"How did you hear, it wasn't public knowledge," Beka demanded.

"You're talking again, do you realise this?" Gerd snapped, losing patience.

Beka bit her tongue and then saw the fear in Harper as Vandes approached, and prepared the scanner. "You see we need to know something that you know," Vandes stressed towards Harper. "And if you don't know it, then that information must be inside you by some other means and that port, well, that is the only other means," Vandes explained. "The future of our people, of the entire Nietzschean alliance is resting on what is inside your head."

Harper glanced up at the uber with confusion. "I don't know anything."

"Then I'm just going to have to go inside there and find it myself," Vandes stressed, and brought the jack closer as Harper instinctively tensed. All of a sudden security alarms sounded loudly stopping Vandes, as Gerd quickly moved to a console.

"We have a ship on approach."

"Is it the Andromeda or Maru?" Vandes demanded.

Gerd took his time to confirm and then he looked up. "No, neither ship, but just received a message, it's demanding that we surrender Harper."

"What?" Beka and Vandes responded in unison.

"Preparing to fire, raising shields," Gerd sounded panicked as he quickly worked to protect the ship from the unknown enemy.

"It won't be any use."

All four looked over to the new voice. "Tabatha?" Gerd finally managed with shock as the woman slowly walked towards them. "How?" Gerd was lost for words.

"The only people I know who can appear out of no where and walk through walls work for the Abyss," Beka spoke calmly, though inside her gut was churning.

Tabatha just looked over to Beka with a knowing smile. "I am commandeering this ship, Seamus Harper is now my property and you both work for me, you really shouldn't have run off like you did, I will always find you," Tabatha calmly warned the two Nietzschean captains, who in turn were speechless, and then she turned to Beka. "And you'll remain in that chair."

---

Dylan Hunt strode onto the Obs Deck and came to a stop, and he took a moment to look at Tyr Anasazi before speaking. "The situation is this, Beka Valentine and Seamus Harper are missing, Captains Verde and Gerd were spotted with them both shortly after they were last seen by Rommie leaving the facility," Dylan came straight to the point, bypassing pleasantries with his returning weapons officer. "Earlier you had warned us that Harper was a target of these two men, so tell me your side," Dylan instructed.

"Gerd and Vandes worked for me, they've now defected," Tyr calmly returned. "I have surveillance that shows them talking to my wife Tabatha, who somehow scrambled the audio, I do not know what they spoke of before Gerd and Vandes disrupted the sensors and left my ship for good."

"Any idea what they might have spoken to your wife about?" Dylan asked.

Tyr took a moment to consider his response, and Dylan began to suspect the Nietzschean was hiding something. "No," Tyr answered, more or less confirming Dylan's fears.

"Where is your wife now?"

"She is no longer my wife," Tyr answered.

"I see, I'm sorry," Dylan responded, and moved away to gather his thoughts. "May I ask why?"

"She was deceiving me, there are many reasons that I would rather not discuss, so we can keep our focus," Tyr stated.

"Tyr, I have served by your side for almost three years," Dylan spoke with respect. "I know you do not make any decisions lightly, and yet you married a woman within, what? Two months of meeting and now less than six months later you are no longer together, and then I learn that the two men who have my crew were last seen speaking with her, I'm sorry but I have to ask, this could be relevant."

Taking a deep breath, Tyr looked at Dylan with the same level of respect being shown to him. "I would not admit to my fellow people that I was deceived yet I admitted that to you, and now you want me to further explain my reasons?"

Dylan took a deep breath. "So did this deceiving extend to this situation with Beka and Harper?"

"You know Tabatha was a Commonwealth Spy, you sent that communication to warn me yourself," Tyr acknowledged.

"I hope it was taken as a sign that you could still trust me," Dylan stated.

"I am here, am I not?" Tyr responded, and Dylan nodded his head. "Tabatha was a spy first, wife second and I was not prepared to play second."

"The Commonwealth learned that Tabatha had resigned her commission," Dylan informed Tyr. "The word was that she had decided to join you and work with you, rather than against."

"She was playing us all for fools," Tyr snapped and turned away, looking out to the stars beyond the viewing area. "This is my fault, all of this is my fault and I must accept the blame for whatever is the result. I was blindsided, and I have no answers as to why this happened."

"Your son is the most important thing to you, and everything you did was for him," Dylan spoke with understanding, as Tyr looked back at him. "I know about your son."

"And like Tabatha I'm guessing that you know that he is the re-incarnation of the Drago Museveni, the second coming," Tyr stated calmly.

"I had not heard it confirmed," Dylan admitted. "But when you suddenly had a Pride and people willing to follow you, plus the small rumbles that you were in fact that descendant I suspected that maybe it was a smokescreen for something greater."

"My little boy, my son, his future is the key to Nietzschean supremacy and peace," Tyr insisted.

"And as his father you are expected to ensure your son is brought up safely and with the knowledge and wisdom required for such a role," Dylan offered.

"I have shown very little of both," Tyr spoke despondently.

"Tyr," Dylan moved closer sensing the Nietzschean's sombre mood. "I am willing to give you a way back into the Commonwealth, on my crew if you help me now," Dylan stated. "I will extend that offer to your son, give you the time you need to rebuild and we can work together, share the same goals but I need you to meet me half way."

"Why would you do that?" Tyr asked with confusion.

Dylan frowned and moved away. "Just as you have been blindsided, so have I," the high guard captain announced. "My dream, my wish for a new Commonwealth has been so strong I've just kept moving forward but I'm starting to look back, and all around me and I do not like what I see."

"The council can not be trusted," Tyr agreed.

"There are a lot of factors that are not resting easy with me, and the final straw came with the treatment Seamus Harper received on being rescued from your base," Dylan sighed and turned back to Tyr. "We have to work together to save both of our dreams, because right now we're close to losing them both."

"I will help you," Tyr agreed. "And I will return and serve on your crew, on the provision that you understand that one day I will leave, and I will unite the Prides."

"Make the Commonwealth an allied force and not the enemy and you have a deal," Dylan bargained.

Tyr held out his hand, and Dylan grasped it and with a firm handshake they shook a deal.

TBC


	40. Chapter 40

thanks for all the comments, and for those staying with this story - sorry it keeps growing hehe but rest assured there will be an ending at some point ;)

thankies!

--

Part 40

With half opened eyes Harper wearily looked at Tabatha, barely focused and on the edge of unconsciousness.

"Give him another shot," Tabatha ordered and Gerd hurried forward and pressed an injector into Harper's upper arm.

"What are you giving him?" Beka demanded.

"Just a stimulant to keep him awake," Tabatha answered briskly.

"He's been awake for over thirty hours, he needs to sleep!" Beka snapped, having been afforded the chance to sleep when exhaustion had hit her a few hours earlier. She felt for Harper since waking up, seeing him struggling with his senses, his eyes were red rimmed and his skin pale from lack of rest. Beka saw the bruising around Harper's jaw and cheek bones, and she knew they had been roughing him up but it seemed that they hadn't taken it any further, a small mercy, Beka considered.

"What do you want?" Beka demanded. "He doesn't know anything and this is a waste of time!"

"Not a waste of time to me," Tabatha stated and moved closer to Harper under the watchful gaze of Vandes, Gerd and Beka. Harper was still secured to the chair, and hadn't been able to move since he'd been put there over thirty hours before. Carefully she placed her hands on either side of Harper's head and immediately the human tensed up.

"What are you doing?" Beka demanded, as Harper closed his eyes tightly shut but Tabatha offered no explanation before slowly moving around Harper, and resting her hands on the back of his neck.

"Pass me that bag," Tabatha demanded and Gerd picked up the bag with care, and brought it to the woman he feared. Taking her time Tabatha slowly unpacked the bag and removed a square device, she then encouraged Harper to move his head forward so his chin rested on his chest. She attached a handheld device to the square pad and activated the small console.

With a delicate stance, Tabatha brought the handheld section over the back of Harper's neck, at the base of his skull and then held it there whilst she began to press the console. All Beka and the others could hear were noises close to confirmation beeps coming from the console. Occasionally Harper would flinch or gasp, and sometimes he would tense and Beka became more and more concerned not understanding what Tabatha was doing.

"Seamus," Tabatha spoke Harper's first name with arrogance. "Can you feel the implants?"

Struggling to concentrate, Harper did his best and then showed a slight surprise to feeling connected once again. "Yeah," he barely whispered. "The information is back, back inside my head," he then grimaced, having enjoyed its absence from his mind.

"What information can you see?"

"I don't know," Harper squinted, but he was looking inside his mind not at anything outside of him. "It's all in a language or code I don't understand," he took a deep breath. "I don't like this, it hurts," he then stressed.

"Stop fighting it," Tabatha spoke, with almost a concerned tone. "You are almost ready."

"What?" Harper asked, and Beka repeated his question.

"My master is awaiting your arrival, he's been waiting a long time," Tabatha calmly responded.

"Your master?" Harper questioned.

"No!" Beka snapped. "There's no way the Abyss is getting Harper!"

"The Abyss?" Gerd spoke up with shock. "You mean you were serious about that, this lady works for him?"

"She arrived out of thin air, you do the math," Beka returned with frustration.

Harper began to frantically fight the tape securing him until Tabatha moved around him and grabbed his head, then held it firmly in her hold. In that moment Harper looked into her eyes and saw the red burning that froze him to the core. "No," Harper gasped but he couldn't move from her hold.

"You remember the Abyss, even with no memories to recall you know who he is," Tabatha goaded.

"He's been inside my head before," Harper answered, although it was more on instinct that actual facts.

"Harper?" Beka questioned, unsure what Harper was referring to.

"He tried to tempt me but I resisted," Harper sounded weak in Tabatha's hold now.

"Harper stop talking, don't give Tabatha what she wants," Beka stressed with determination.

Tabatha then removed one hand and reached into a side pocket of her jacket, pulling out a small data chip that had a jack extension. "I have it all on here, Seamus Zelazny Harper, your life, your identity, it's all here," Tabatha waved the data chip in front of him temptingly.

"You stole it from me," Harper stated with surprise. "I never lost them, you took them."

"You can have them back," Tabatha teased Harper as she moved the connector closer to his port.

"My port is broken," Harper reminded her.

"No, I just made it seem that way," Tabatha smiled. "I've messed with your head enough now; your implants and your port now work as they should. I work quickly and with power you don't have to imagine because you've experienced it already."

"Keep them," Harper murmured.

"Keep them?" Tabatha checked.

"Keep them, I won't work for the Abyss, never," Harper stressed, his eyes fixed on the disk that contained his life.

"You heard him Tabatha, give it up," Beka stated with joy.

"I have your memories, your life right here and you don't want them back?" Tabatha asked, and it was clear she hadn't believed Harper's sentiment.

Harper closed his eyes and looked down, while taking some deep breaths he struggled to focus before speaking. "Take them away, I don't want them, keep them if you want them so bad you'd steal them from me!"

"Do you honestly think I will just turn and leave because you claim you don't want these back?" Tabatha asked with a slanted smile, as she continued to wave the data disk at him.

"I don't want them," Harper spoke with more conviction now.

"Then I'm just going to have to make you want them, because you really don't have a choice," Tabatha announced. "Guys, I want to hear him beg for me to give him back his memories, do you understand?"

Gerd and Vandes got to their feet quickly and read between the lines of Tabatha's request. "Using any means necessary?" Gerd checked.

"Any," Tabatha agreed.

"Shocks?"

"Any," Tabatha confirmed and then seemed to melt into the deck plate as she returned to her own vessel alongside the ship.

"I assume she can still see us," Gerd looked around with uncertainty.

"So we better do as the lady asked," Vandes relished the opportunity as he found a smile he had lost on Tabatha's entrance, and he stared at Harper with glee.

"Shall we begin?" Gerd suggested.

"I think the kludge has been sitting down for long enough, it's time he got the chance to stretch his limbs, prepare the chains," Vandes ordered.

"Don't do this; don't play into the Abyss's hands!" Beka stressed.

"Are you suggesting we defy something more powerful than us?" Vandes checked. "For a kludge?"

"That information in his head must be pretty important for you to have gone chasing after him, for the Abyss himself to be interested in him," Beka pointed out.

"He does have certain useful information apparently tucked away in there, remember our original aim," Gerd agreed, looking at Vandes.

"That woman could be watching us right now, don't be so dumb," Vandes snapped.

Gerd prepared the chain that now hung from the supports above. "I'm just saying," Gerd offered. "She never did say what was in it for us."

"An early death or eternal life in Satan's pit, but I don't think you get a choice," Beka remarked, as they began to undo the strong tape that had secured Harper to the chair. Beka could only watch as Harper immediately began to struggle and fight the ubers, kicking out in a bid to free himself but he lacked any of the strength he needed to defeat them and Gerd easily managed to put Harper's wrists into metallic cuffs before attaching them to the chain above.

Vandes pulled the chain and Harper stumbled before finding himself hanging by his wrists, and he grimaced with the pain that hit him.

"The lady wants you to be grateful that she's willing to give you back your life and you defy her?" Gerd began.

"Better that than be her puppet," Harper suggested.

"Is that what you think?" Gerd returned, seeing Vandes react by picking up a long piece of leather. The instant crack of the leather connecting with Harper's back caused him to scream out; as Vandes let his actions speak louder.

"Harper's right!" Beka yelled with anger at what they were doing. "By doing this you're just Tabatha's puppets, is that what you want?" she stressed.

"Do we really have a choice?" Gerd spoke tiredly.

"Yeah," Harper answered.

"Help a kludge? I'd rather be a puppet," Gerd returned scornfully.

Harper only smirked. "Fine, but you'll die because there is no way that you'll make me beg for my own memories, think about it, do I really want them back?"

"How would you know, if you can't remember?" Gerd countered.

"You're calling me a kludge and that doesn't sound too cool. It seems second nature that you beat me up, so I must be the lowest of the low," Harper began. "I'm tied up in chains; I'm weak and small, hell I must have lived like a prince, yeah? Must have had a charmed life, why else does this all this pain feel so freaking familiar along with my, I assume natural hatred for you and torture, if I haven't experienced it before?" Harper stated with conviction. "How I see it, those memories don't amount to much but right now I have a beautiful lady fighting my corner," Harper gestured with his head towards Beka. "Seen the most beautiful freaking ship I've ever seen that this lovely lady has promised I can stay on, so as far as I can tell my future is a hell of a lot more promising than anything I've had in the past, and you can't take that from me."

"If I kill you I can," Vandes spoke up.

"Yeah, true," Harper reconsidered. "And then you'll have nothing for the freaky lady, who wants you as puppets," Harper countered. "If you kill me, do you think the Abyss will understand your reasoning that you did it because I'm just a kludge? I saw the fear in your faces, so how much longer do you think you're lives will be?"

"He may have lost his memories and life, but he's still smart, I'd listen to him if I were you," Beka supported.

"Well you're not me!" Gerd snapped.

"And we're eternally grateful about that," Harper remarked and then screamed out again as Vandes lashed the leather against his back again. Taking some deep breaths and composing his thoughts through the pain, Harper held his head up. "We're all dead men if you break me," he stressed.

Gerd looked at Harper, and then to Vandes before he reached up and released Harper from the chains, letting the human fall heavily to the deck.

"What are you doing?" Vandes demanded.

"Getting out of here," Gerd stressed and hurried to the cockpit.

"We can't run!" Vandes stressed following him and Harper slowly pushed himself up, before hurrying over to Beka as the two Nietzscheans continued their discussion in the front of the ship.

"Are you ok?" Beka asked, as Harper worked quickly to release her arms.

"Yeah," Harper answered quickly, still wearing the metallic cuffs around his wrists but no longer chained together.

Beka moved her arms as soon as she felt the give, and helped Harper to free her ankles from the chair. "What now?"

"I was hoping to hand over to you?" Harper offered.

"We need to gain control of the ship," Beka stated.

"Yeah, you take on the meat heads and I'll follow," Harper mocked. "No, we need to work with them."

"Harper?" Beka checked.

"What?"

"You want to work with those guys?"

"Do we have a better option because I'm not rating my chances in a fight with those guys," Harper stressed, as Beka was finally able to get to her feet.

"You're right, possibly, it's just so weird hearing you suggest that," Beka remarked. "I'm not sure we can trust them, we need another plan."

"I'm fresh out, minds a blank, literally," Harper mocked.

Beka looked at Harper but she had nothing, looking around she couldn't find anything that could help them. "I don't like this," Beka managed before they heard movement approaching.

"What the," Gerd began as he came back through to find his prisoners no longer secured. "Get the hell against that wall, hands where I can see them!" Gerd ordered reaching for his weapon.

"We want to talk, we won't be any trouble," Beka put her hands up in a defensive manner. "If we work together we might be ok."

"No use, our engines have been drained," Gerd offered. "This ship is going nowhere thanks to the freaky lady."

"Crap," Harper sat down.

"If you just let her give you back your memories," Gerd suggested but Harper cut him off mid-way through.

"No, I don't want them," Harper held his head in his hands.

Gerd moved closer and held the weapon to Harper's head. "What if we take away your freedom of choice?"

"And what will shooting him in the head achieve exactly, I thought we'd discussed how dead Harper equals all our deaths," Beka snapped.

"Well if you could make your dumb ass friend accept his own memories back, I know we'd be in a better position than we're in right now," Gerd offered.

"No, don't you get it, he's already said," Beka began but Harper rose to his feet.

"He's right," Harper cut in, and looked terrified as he looked between Beka and the Nietzschean, he than glanced at Vandes who joined them from the cockpit. "I should just take the damn things back and be done with it."

"Harper, I can't let you do that, not with the Abyss," Beka warned.

Suddenly without warning the room was bathed with an intense light and a screeching noise followed as they all covered their eyes momentarily. Seemingly frozen to the spot, they could only stare at the being that had appeared within the ship, and they all knew without needing introductions that the Abyss was among them.

Mesmerized, Harper just stared at the faceless creature who seemed tortured as its arms waved around, and the figure danced within a flurry of light and energy. The figure reached out towards Harper, but just as it was about to make contact Harper felt himself being pulled back and the action caused him to stumble back on to the deck, as he realised Beka had grabbed him, and they were both now lying on the deck.

The Abyss screamed with what seemed like frustration, as its arms flailed once more and Harper instinctively pushed himself back along the deck as the creature glided towards him. Beka put an arm across Harper's chest from behind and assisted in dragging him back with her along the deck, desperately trying to get as much distance as they could from the darkness.

Reaching out the Abyss extended his reach brushing some of its presence across Harper's chest, causing the human to scream out, whilst Beka struggled to find more distance. The Abyss reached out again and this time was able to hold a darkened spirit over Harper, despite Beka's best efforts. She could feel Harper become heavier, as he stopped trying to move with her, leaving Beka to take his weight but she knew she had to keep moving, had to keep trying to get Harper away. Just when she entertained thoughts of giving up, sensing the Abyss had got what he wanted, the ship shuddered and sparks flew within. Almost immediately the Abyss disappeared in a flash of light and screams, as the ship rocked again and sirens began to sound, warning of severe damage.

"What the hell just happened?" Gerd yelled trying to hang onto something as another volley of fire struck the ship.

"Tabatha's ship has gone, and we're being attacked!" Vandes reported and then paused. "It's the Andromeda!"

"Send a message, tell them you surrender, let them know we're on board and in need of medical attention!" Beka yelled.

"I will not surrender!" Vandes argued. "They will not destroy us with you on board!"

"They will disable your ship, get me and Harper out of here and then leave you adrift though!" Beka retaliated.

"Surrender, Vandes, we don't need to make an enemy of the Commonwealth as well as the Abyss today," Gerd reasoned, sounding tired and still in shock, and Vandes raised no further argument to his colleague, as he relayed their surrender and the firing immediately ceased. "How is he?" Vandes then asked looking at Harper, and surprising Beka.

"I'm not sure," Beka answered, as she moved enough to be able to place Harper on the deck. "I don't know if the Abyss left because of the attack, or because he got what he was after."

"That's no way to go if it's the latter," Gerd motioned to Harper.

"Harper, wake up," Beka attempted, but Harper was showing no signs of life, despite the steady heart beat Beka could feel.

"We're docking on board the Andromeda," Vandes announced as he checked the readings. "Tyr Anasazi has personally welcomed us on board," he sneered.

"Great, did I specifically ask that today be the worse day of my life, or is it just a special?" Gerd moaned.

"I'll cut you a deal," Beka stated. "I'll talk to Dylan and tell him that once Tabatha revealed her true identity that you tried to help us escape, in return you back the hell off and forget whatever is it you wanted with Harper."

"Is the kid even in there anymore?" Vandes asked. "I doubt he'll ever get those memories back now, Tabatha has split and the Abyss got what he wanted."

"I don't know," Beka admitted as she held Harper close now, wishing he would wake up so she wouldn't feel so scared for him. With a groan Harper suddenly stirred and Beka secretly thanked the Divine, as she moved her hand to the side of his face to let him know she was there. "Harper?"

"What happened?" he asked, sounding drowsy.

"It's over now, don't worry, just relax," Beka assured him.

With a grimace Harper brought his hand to his chest and closed his eyes. "Ow," he offered, sounding in pain. Beka lifted Harper's shirt and saw what seemed to be a red rash or burn mark across his chest, where the Abyss had made contact.

"Can you hear voices or any noise?" Beka had to ask.

"My implants are back, I'm seeing stuff, read outs," Harper murmured, not quite with it.

"What about noise, can you hear voices or sounds?" Beka tried to determine what had happened, whether the Abyss had got to Harper or not.

"No," Harper wearily answered, and Beka only allowed a brief smile, knowing she didn't let herself get too encouraged, seeing Harper wasn't quite himself and a little dazed by what had just happened.

The sound of the airlock being released was heard and Beka glanced at the two Nietzschean captains. "Do we have a deal?"

"Deal," they both agreed, moments before Dylan and Tyr appeared on board brandishing weapons.

"Dylan, they helped protect Harper from Tabatha," Beka was quick to speak, and saw the change in stance from the high guard captain. "Tyr," Beka greeted the returning crew member. "Just met your wife, real nice lady, lovely glowing red eyes," she sneered and to her surprise Tyr didn't respond and just took her mocking, before he moved forward and secured Vandes without word.

"Take them to the brig," Dylan ordered towards Tyr and the security team that had boarded with them. "We'll take into account your help, but for the time being you will be lodging in the brig," Dylan informed the two captains and they simply nodded their heads.

"Is he ok?" Tyr asked towards Harper, who had closed his eyes in Beka's hold.

"Tyr?" Harper realised, becoming aware suddenly and looking up at the big man. "Tyr! Did you work out she was bad?" he asked with concern, clearly not with it as he blinked his eyes.

"I worked it out, eventually," Tyr offered.

"Sorry," Harper looked saddened.

"Why are you sorry?" Beka asked, looking at Harper.

Harper just shrugged and Tyr pushed his two former captains forward leaving the ship with the security team flanking them.

"Is he ok?" Dylan asked again, kneeling down with Beka beside Harper.

"I don't know," Beka admitted. "The Abyss was here, Dylan, and I'm just really afraid right now."

"He got to Harper?" Dylan checked and saw Beka nod her head, Harper now unconscious once again in her hold. "Let's get him to med deck and give him a check up, he looks like he's been in the wars."

Beka nodded her head and allowed Dylan to lift Harper up, before they both left the ship, walking back onto the Andromeda and towards med deck.

TBC


	41. Chapter 41

sorry for the delay... sad to report that last week I suffered a hard drive crash, and lost everything with no hope of recovering it.. around that time I also remembered I had failed to back anything up in quite a while (eep!) so I lost a large proportion of this story to the crash (as well as a lot of other stuff) and have had to go back and re-write... so... remember to back up your work! I have learned the hard way!

Part 41

Trance checked her readings and then looked at Harper, her eyes checking his reactions. Harper was sitting up and staring back at her with a bored air, for the past hour since he had woken up he had been forced to endure a number of tests.

"Seamus, are you ok?"

"Don't you know?" Harper answered tiredly, and with a touch of irritation at the tests. "I thought you'd tell me."

Trance frowned. "I'm finding nothing out of the ordinary, but you're quiet, why?"

Harper shrugged and then sighed. "Just tired. Can I go?"

"Harper, we need to determine what, if anything, happened when the Abyss touched you. Are you positive that you are not hearing voices or anything out of the ordinary?" Trance asked again.

"Nothing," Harper stressed.

"And your memories, have they returned, anything?"

Harper just shook his head to indicate no, and Trance could see that he was now struggling to stay awake where he sat. "Beka told me that you were forced to stay awake by Tabatha, and that they used drugs to do this that may still be in your system, so by all means if you are feeling tired don't fight it, return to your quarters and rest, that's an order."

"Finally, something I can do," Harper half grinned as he jumped down, but before he left med deck he stopped and turned. "Where are my quarters again?"

Trance offered a brief smile. "Do you want me to show you?"

"Actually, is Rommie around?" Harper asked, surprising Trance by not accepting her offer and she shrugged awkwardly. "Andromeda, can you locate your avatar?"

The holographic version of Andromeda materialised next to Harper. "I have requested that she make her way here, to assist Harper."

"Thanks," Harper offered before she disappeared. "No offence, Trance, I just have some things I want to discuss with Rommie, stuff about my implants, I figure she'd be able to tell me," he grimaced slightly. "They're bugging me a little," he stated.

"How so?"

"Just information, so much," Harper attempted to explain. "I think she helped me before," he added unsure.

"I understand," Trance relaxed slightly with the explanation. "Seamus, are you sure you're feeling ok?" Trance asked again.

"Just a bit lost, you know?" Harper admitted. "I remember some stuff from the last time I was here but everyone still acts as if they know me, takes some getting use to," he explained.

"Because we do know you, better than you know yourself," Trance offered fondly.

"Yeah, getting that," Harper agreed and then absently rubbed his chest with a slight grimace.

"Keep an eye on that wound, Harper, we can't ignore how you got it and by what means," Trance stated, without further explanation just before Rommie appeared and without hanging around, Harper gestured to Rommie to walk with him.

Trance sighed and then moved to the console, activating the communications. "Trance to Dylan," she waited until the captain acknowledged. "Could you come and see me, I have some news about Harper."

* * *

They walked in silence until they reached Machine Shop three and Harper quickly ushered Rommie inside before he closed the door and activated privacy mode.

"Privacy mode?" Rommie questioned, looking around. "Technically you're still under medical care, and you know privacy mode is not encouraged for those still assigned to med deck."

"Make an exception, Rommie, I need to talk and I need your help," Harper immediately responded, as he paced in front of her.

"Harper? What's wrong?" Rommie asked with concern.

"I'm not sure, but it's bad," Harper offered with slight panic.

"How bad?"

"I'm not sure."

"That's not an answer."

"It's all I have," Harper frowned, and paced some more.

"I need more," Rommie answered.

"I remember," Harper stated anxiously, and Rommie simply frowned. "Everything Rommie, I remember everything, my memories, it's all back inside me."

"Why is that bad?" Rommie asked with some confusion, not understanding Harper's concern.

"The Abyss gave them back to me, and I don't know why," Harper stated nervously, and Rommie looked at him finally working it out.

"Why would he do that?"

Harper took some calming breaths before speaking. "I've just spent the past hour with Trance and she didn't find out, and when I made out like I still had memory loss she still didn't seem to question it, she hadn't figured it out, she didn't know I was lying," Harper stressed. "Trance would know, wouldn't she?"

"Trance wouldn't miss something like that normally, I agree, not with her medical equipment, or indeed her other senses that usually are in tune with things like this," Rommie admitted and then seemed to share Harper's concerns. "Something isn't right."

"Rommie, help me, I know the Abyss can't hurt you and that's why I need you to help me, you're the only one who can," Harper stressed.

"Why has the Abyss given you back your memories, when it was one of his agents that took them away?" Rommie then questioned. "All accounts would have us believe the Abyss has been interested in acquiring your services, he had something to tempt you with and he didn't use it, why?"

"I don't know," Harper admitted. "How do I know I'm not already acquired?"

It was Rommie's time to pace. "Why did Tabatha remove your memories?"

"She was afraid of my genius," Harper absently concluded and then froze. "That's it," he exclaimed and then seemed to be thinking. "Oh crap."

"Harper?" Rommie moved closer with concern.

"No," Harper's face creased. "No," he repeated and shook his head.

"Harper, talk to me," Rommie insisted, moving closer.

"She was right to fear my intellect, oh man," Harper seemed distraught. "That stuff she put inside my head, the stuff she wanted to remain hidden, its all here and," Harper paused. "I can see it, I know what it is."

"What is it?"

Harper was already shaking his head. "I can't say, I won't say," Harper stressed as he backed away from Rommie. "No one can know this stuff, crap, Rommie, help me," his face creased up with fear and worry.

"Ok, calm down," Rommie immediately answered seeing Harper back himself against the bulkhead.

"I can't keep this information, the next person who kidnaps me and tortures me for it, Rommie," Harper pleaded, losing his focus as his mind ran over the possibilities. "I can't tell anyone, it's too dangerous, it's too much, this is dangerous stuff, and I shouldn't know this."

"Harper, stop," Rommie demanded seeing her engineer falling apart in front of her, and she grabbed hold of him firmly. "Focus, and tell me what you have inside you."

Harper attempted to calm down and he took a moment to gather his thoughts. "Stuff, Rommie, I know about Tyr, his son and I know where the remains are that will decide the fate of the entire Nietzschean race," he stressed, taking some deep breaths. "Engine of Creation, the Abyss, everything that any power crazy nut job could possibly need to know to have control, Tabatha has put inside me," he looked overwhelmed for a moment. "No one can know this stuff, no one."

"If anyone was to find out that you have this information," Rommie began.

"I would become the most hunted man in the universe," Harper finished and sank to the floor with fear. "Why me?"

"Exactly, why has the Abyss put you in this position?" Rommie asked, as she crouched down in front of him. "I'm assuming the information you hold could potentially destroy him?"

Harper looked at Rommie wide eyed. "And I know something he doesn't," he spoke with shock. "With this information and what I know," Harper paused and didn't continue, as he closed his eyes.

"Harper, keep talking why do you think the Abyss has given you this information?" Rommie asked.

"I don't know," Harper stated, with a light sheen of perspiration covered his face. "Tabatha put this stuff inside me to hand over to the Abyss but also for safe keeping, and to further safeguard it she removed my intelligence so I wouldn't become a threat by knowing this stuff, so I don't understand why the Abyss has given it back to me, he must have known I'd be able to work out the information?" Harper questioned. "He's taken a risk, especially as I know something I shouldn't, he's underestimated what I know," Harper confidently spoke, between deep breaths.

Rommie gave it some thought. "Tabatha failed to infiltrate the Kodiak Pride."

"She was found out," Harper agreed. "If she had remained under cover she'd now be married to," Harper stopped himself. "Tyr's not the chosen one, it's all a cover," he realised. "But she knew that, it's all here she knew who the true reincarnation was, but she needed to be close to Tyr, a step mother is as close as you can get without it being your own child, the Abyss was after Tyr's son."

"So it's true, Tyr's son is the reincarnation?" Rommie checked.

Harper clenched his eyes shut. "Crap, Rommie, I shouldn't have said anything, I just can't help it, and how am I going to keep any of this stuff secret? What if I'm kidnapped again, Gerd and Vandes know I had something of value inside my head, what if others have found that out?"

"The Commonwealth had figured out that Tyr had a son, and that Tyr was covering something by suddenly declaring he was a direct descendant," Rommie informed Harper calmly.

Harper was shaking slightly, as he tried to relax and remain calm. "I don't like this, I don't know what to do."

"There is another potential problem," Rommie frowned, and saw Harper looked at her with panicked eyes. "We could assume by the actions of the Abyss in giving you back you memories, that he has defied Tabatha, and he has banished her. Maybe she was hiding information from him and by giving you back your memories he will have the proof he needs, if for whatever reason the information now inside your head is used against him, and if Tabatha is still alive, she could now be a rogue agent, one who knows exactly what information you carry," Rommie informed him.

"And now the good news?" Harper asked hopefully, but Rommie could only shrug sadly. "What if the Abyss wants the information inside my head, how do I prevent eternal sadistic darkness from getting to me?" he stressed, and closed his eyes tighter, as he tried not to let his emotions and fear get the better of him. "How do I honestly know that he's not already here, inside my head?" he added.

"I can help you," Rommie stated, moving closer and putting a comforting hand on Harper's shoulder.

"How?"

"You have only told me that you have your memories back, no one else knows?" Rommie checked and Harper nodded his head. "Download your memories into a secure area inside my matrix."

Harper considered Rommie's suggestion. "That could work but it's a big ask," Harper feared. "You could become the target."

"I am a warship, I'm always a target Harper, but I have the advantage of a thicker skin to protect me," Rommie answered with a calming smile.

"True, and you're in a better position to protect this information but no one else can find it, no one, not even Dylan, it's too dangerous," Harper stressed. "But this will only work if no one knows my memories are back."

"Agreed, if it becomes common knowledge that your memories and intellect has been returned, then people will expect you to know about Tabatha's files," Rommie sighed. "You will have to act as still being somewhat clueless, and sans memories," Rommie warned him. "You could however, due to your implants not only download Tabatha's files, but your core personality too, to a separate secure area, maximum security."

"Return to being an idiot willingly?" Harper looked dubious. "I don't know if I could," Harper frowned and then sighed. "But then I don't want to be an easy meal ticket for the next power crazed psycho who hunts me down," Harper stated with conviction. "And I know the Abyss is setting me up, I just don't know why."

Rommie looked down. "I do."

"What, you do?"

"Another thought," Rommie partially shrugged. "The Abyss seeks power, and having the entire Nietzschean race under your control is as much power as anyone needs in this universe," Rommie stated.

"How does that involve me?" Harper asked, confused.

"Tyr has shown a loyalty to you, and you have shown strength in being able to defeat Tyr, the Abyss has been paying attention, maybe he never left you that time he got inside your head," Rommie suggested and saw Harper's expression fall. "The Abyss has given you this information, I believe, in order to win Tyr's trust by giving him what he wants, through the information you possess."

"I don't like what you're suggesting," Harper feared.

"It's a possible answer," Rommie frowned, and gently comforted Harper as she put her arm around him.

"So maybe I have to protect Tyr, and his son, and ironically the whole Nietzschean race, by not giving Tyr what he wants, oh boy," Harper frowned with a heavy sigh. "If the Abyss gets to Tyr's son, we're all doomed."

"No pressure," Rommie lightly smiled.

"If the Abyss is here, inside me, will he let me download myself into your matrix? He can't want me to hide, he's done this for a reason," Harper started to tense up again. "Gotta hope Tyr doesn't know, or know to ask," he frowned.

"Tyr knows you carry the information he seeks," Rommie guessed. "Why else do you think Tyr has abandoned his pride, and returned to this ship?"

"This just gets worse, but Tyr wouldn't hurt me," Harper was already shaking his head.

"Tyr doesn't yet know your memories have returned, that you have access to the information he seeks," Rommie reminded him.

"I need to download, right now," Harper decided and moved to the side panel before retrieving a jack cable.

"With your implants you will find jacking in to be even more natural, and it should prove easier for me to contain your core memories and intellect," Rommie stated.

"I am more like you now, more machine in how I function," Harper remembered and took a deep breath, before he plugged the jack in and let his eyes roll back.

"Stay safe, Harper," Rommie whispered with concern.

TBC


	42. Chapter 42

Part 42

"What are we looking at?" Beka asked, the crew minus Harper were gathered in the meeting room.

"Radical Isotopes," Trance offered.

"There's no such thing," Beka returned with confusion, glancing at Dylan and Tyr who seemed to agree.

"They exist but only in one dimension," Trance revealed. "The Abyss."

All three stared at Trance, before Dylan spoke. "And we're looking at this, why?"

"What you are looking at is a reading from Seamus Harper," Trance frowned and then moved forward.

"So the Abyss did get him," Beka numbly spoke.

"Yes and no," Trance offered to the others confusion. "Yes, Harper has traces of radical isotopes in his blood, quantities so low I missed them previously."

"Previously, but the Abyss only just got to him," Beka argued.

"There was one other time, when an agent of the Abyss removed the magog eggs from Harper," Trance answered.

Beka sat up now and seemed confused. "And that was all she did, she removed the eggs and the Abyss wasn't even directly involved."

Dylan cleared his throat. "Harper admitted to me that the Abyss attempted to recruit him, and for a short time Harper was tempted, and he allowed the Abyss into his mind before pushing him away," Dylan stated avoiding Beka's questioning stare.

"And no one thought to mention this to me?" Beka asked.

"I imagine because it would have compromised the mission, and Harper's place on this crew," Tyr offered with a bored air, joining the conversation.

"Tyr's right, it had to remain classified, until we could determine any long term effects, of which there were none," Dylan confirmed.

"Until now," Trance suggested. "I missed these readings because the Abyss wanted me to miss them, it was purposely done."

"Hang on, what do you mean purposely wanted you to miss those readings?" Beka asked.

Trance frowned. "My people have been at war with the Abyss for a number of centuries, and soon the war will reach this universe and I have to prepare, only the Abyss has ways of blocking things from me and I can only see them if I look for them."

Dylan looked at Beka before commenting. "How does this involve Harper?"

"Harper is a threat to this entire universe," Trance admitted.

Beka had to smirk, shaking her head as she once again moved to sit up. "Hang on, just a few months ago you were swearing black and blue that Harper was not the enemy, Trance," she stated. "We got into this mess because you couldn't convince us at that time that he was not a threat to this ship when we were all under the influence of that gas and now suddenly you're telling us he is actually a threat, and not just to the ship but to the entire universe? What changed?"

"The Abyss saw an opportunity and took it," Trance simply said. "It is no coincidence that we, as a people, are here, together, fighting this fight, and its fate that the Abyss now sees all of us as a threat to his plans."

"Anyone else a little freaked by this?" Beka asked to both Dylan and Tyr who seemed equally bemused. "You're telling us that we were always destined to meet up, as we are now, and fight the Abyss?" Beka seemed doubtful.

"The Abyss has been waiting for an opportunity to return his attention to Harper, because Harper is a part of us and possibly considered the easiest to infiltrate, and in turn we, as a group, pose the biggest threat to the success of the Abyss in this universe," Trance declared. "The minute we succumbed to that gas, and gave one of us, in this case Harper a reason to doubt us as a crew, then the Abyss saw his chance to exploit a major factor in our armour."

"But Harper is still very much a part of this crew, and he is not the weakest link in our chain, the very notion of you suggesting that Trance," Dylan protested, but Trance soon cut him off.

"I am not suggesting he is the weakest link, Dylan, just the easiest to reach and infiltrate, through technology and his tough background. The Abyss struck while Tyr and Harper had gone their separate ways, in the form of Tabatha, she has sowed the seeds by discrediting Tyr and getting to Harper, enough that she has disrupted his implants, and fed his mind with information that already has three Nietzscheans hunting him for," Trance revealed.

"Three?" Beka questioned. "Gerd, Vandes and," Beka paused and turned to Tyr. "You have got to be kidding me, Tyr's only back for what is inside Harper's head?"

"Tyr?" Dylan prompted the Nietzschean to speak.

Tyr sat up and frowned. "Tabatha double crossed me and has led me to believe that Harper has information I may need in order to further progress my cause," Tyr admitted.

"I don't believe this, you can sit there and just admit that?" Beka raged. "And how many other Nietzscheans will come knocking, what does this actually mean?" Beka demanded, but Tyr remained calm and quiet.

Trance looked uneasily between Beka and Tyr before speaking. "I was unable to find anything that I could say was wrong with Harper, considering what he has been through he is in good health, and all I can detect is these radical isotopes," Trance sighed. "Which is why my concern is high, I believe the Abyss has affected Harper in a way that I can no longer read him, in any sense."

"Where in Harper now?" Dylan asked.

"With my avatar in Machine Shop Three, he is jacked into the main frame," Andromeda revealed from the screen. "Privacy mode is present."

"Do you detect anything?" Dylan asked.

"Impossible to determine, security measures are in place around them," Andromeda answered.

"I want to see Rommie immediately," Dylan ordered, and got to his feet. "Tell her to meet me in my office."

"Why is Harper jacked in?" Beka asked.

"Just to be sure, Captain Hunt, are we now considering Harper a threat to this ship?" Tyr idly asked.

"He has done nothing to cause us to think that," Dylan rapidly answered.

Tyr then considered his response to Beka's question. "What reasons could he have to be jacked in with such security around him, and only in the company of the android?"

Beka couldn't help the smirk, but kept any comments to herself before Trance offered an explanation. "He told me he was having trouble coping with the information coming from his implants, like before," she offered. "It could just be that Harper is seeking help from Rommie, and we shouldn't jump to conclusions."

"The radical isotopes though, Trance, can we really afford to ignore that?" Beka questioned with a sigh. "You said yourself that you suspect the Abyss is up to something."

"And you said that we got into this mess in the first place due to doubting Harper, and not being convinced he wasn't a threat," Trance lightly argued. "We have to show caution or we could inadvertently give the Abyss even more opportunity to weaken us."

Andromeda reappeared on the screen. "My avatar is requesting that someone stay with Harper, while she talks to Dylan, he is in Machine Shop Three, and she is concerned that he shouldn't be left alone at this time."

"I'll go," Beka volunteered, and quickly moved before she was stopped by Tyr.

"Despite what the alien suggests, I am not a threat to Harper," Tyr confirmed.

"That's good to know," Beka answered, but Tyr didn't let go of her arm. "Anything else?" She asked as both Dylan and Trance looked on.

"Tabatha told me that she put information into Harper, information that I suspect many, like Gerd and Vandes would be prepared to kill for," Tyr stated. "I came back to protect him, Tabatha's revenge in all this will be to ensure all prides know that Harper carries information that could give them the power they ultimately crave, which is rightfully mine."

"What would she gain from doing that?" Beka asked.

"Mayhem, war, confusion," Tyr offered unsure. "The information serves only to prove and confirm my birthright, my son's birthright and future," he stressed. "Without it, I will not be able to lead the Nietzschean people, and trust me, even if they have wished for the reincarnation of Drago Museveni all their lives, there are enough prides out there who also fear one rising up to take sole control of my people and they would kill to destroy the information."

"They would kill Harper," Beka realised.

"Once they identify him as the sole owner of the information that is the key to the Nietzschean future," Tyr confirmed.

"You came back not to protect Harper, but the knowledge he possesses," Dylan figured.

"The knowledge that the Abyss himself seeks?" Beka questioned. "Why else is he interested in Harper?"

"The Abyss wants mine and my son's power, with it he would possess the entire Nietzschean race, and control of this sorry universe," Tyr stated.

"Harper doesn't know what the information is that he possesses," Trance then pointed out. "Without his intelligence the information is useless to him."

"Which makes him only a target to those who wish to destroy all chance of it ever becoming known," Tyr confirmed. "This is why I need to protect him, a time will come where the information will become available to me, and then I shall use it to fulfil my destiny."

"I should go check on Harper," Beka stated, as she moved to the exit followed by Dylan who was already late in meeting Rommie.

Trance stepped forward towards Tyr. "Don't lose focus, remember who Harper is and what he represents, do not let the darkness consume you."

"What are you talking about?" Tyr asked abruptly.

"Harper's survival depends on you protecting him, as you have confirmed your wish to do, but do not lose focus of your intentions," Trance stated, locking eyes with the Nietzschean. "The Abyss is all consuming, and can promise you riches beyond your grasp but it is rarely what it seems, take care and show caution to all your decisions in the coming days."

"The Abyss will never take me, or my son, have no fear," Tyr confirmed.

"Just be aware, question your every action and recognise that Harper is more to you than the information you seek," Trance simply said before leaving the meeting room and Tyr to his thoughts.

* * *

"Harper, my avatar has been called away and Beka will be with you when you disconnect, just so you know," Andromeda appeared beside Harper as he worked.

"Ok," Harper stated as he concentrated on a piece of code he had pulled from the matrix.

"You feel so real," Andromeda commented.

"Takes some getting use to, your matrix feels like a place now, I don't feel that nausea of claustrophobia now," Harper remarked, as he continued to work.

"I used to make you feel claustrophobic?" Andromeda questioned.

"Not in a bad way," Harper glanced at her quickly. "Just with so much immediately around me, whenever I jacked in, there was always this feeling of closeness," Harper attempted to explain. "I was use to it, but now, everything feels more spacious, I feel better connected," he smiled.

"Likewise," Andromeda remarked. "You do not appear on my senses as random energy, you are you, and you are actually here, I can see you as I would see you outside of the matrix."

"Really?" Harper glanced at her again.

"Your implants produce a better connection, and representation in here," Andromeda explained. "I feel as if I'm seeing you for the first time."

Harper stopped what he was doing and turned to Andromeda, tentatively he reached out and touched her arm. To his surprise where his hand would have normally passed through her, he felt solid matter, as if he was touching the android version of her. "Whoa," Harper simply responded and looked at his hand, seeing a solid state.

"You are real inside this artificial world, you are not a projection, you exist in here," Andromeda informed him.

"You mean, I leave my body and physically enter your mainframe?" Harper checked.

"Not exactly, you are still an organic, you remain inside your body but your implants enable you to send an exact representation of you into my matrix," Andromeda confirmed.

"So I'm like a back up of my actual self?"

"Something like that," Andromeda smiled.

"Can we both exist?" Harper asked. "I mean could I stay here and my original organic version disconnect?"

"Yes, in theory although by doing that you would find a disorientation that could upset your psyche to the point of madness," Andromeda warned. "At present your physical body is unconscious, and recording no new experiences and on your return you will simply update your experiences of being jacked in and that will not disrupt the natural order," Andromeda stated. "However, if you were to completely disconnect and exist as two people, then your physical self will start experiencing things that you are not experiencing, and therefore, when you would return there would be a clash, and your mind would be unable to collate the two sets of memories over the same period of time."

"Ok," Harper considered this, and paced around Rommie. "Can I be rendered unconscious?"

"I don't follow? Why would you wish that?"

"If I can be rendered unconscious in your mainframe and say, stored away for safe keeping, then you could disconnect my physical body to experience say, life, and I'd be none the wiser locked up in your mainframe," Harper explained.

"The plan was to only store the information you were given," Andromeda reminded him. "You would not be able to jack in if your presence remained in the main frame, in any capacity."

"Think of it as a fail safe, Rommie," Harper stated. "Should anyone get to me, try and do anything to my head then I have a back up right here, me," Harper stressed.

"You have taken to becoming a machine very well, Harper," Andromeda considered. "I need to consult my other selves, I am unable to agree to this without their consent, I'm assuming you do not wish anyone else to know?"

"No, they can't know I have my memories back," Harper agreed. "Just don't take long and Rommie," Harper now hesitated. "I can trust the crew right, even though I'm not telling them this, they'll look after me, right?"

"Why do you doubt them?" Andromeda was curious.

"My memories returned, Rommie," Harper said, and his expression said it all.

"The incident with the gas leak," Andromeda guessed. "You can trust them, Harper; they are not trying to kill you."

"I knew that," Harper stated suddenly looking a little awkward in his movements. "Just checking," he offered.

"I'll discuss your plan, and will let you know," Andromeda blinked out of site leaving Harper to return to his work in securing a section of her mainframe to protect his information, and potential himself.

* * *

Beka found a place to sit amongst the mess that lay around the machine shop. Even though Harper hadn't worked on the Andromeda for a few months, the workshops still seemed to be as messy as ever Beka considered, before she looked over at his prone body. She had never been comfortable with the state Harper went into when jacked in, but even more so now since the incident in the conduit. Seeing him so vulnerable brought back the full horror of her actions, and with it the consequences.

Taking a deep breath, Beka tried not to think about it but failed, as her thoughts continued to torture her. She got to her feet and looked around. "Andromeda, how much longer is Harper going to be? What is he doing?"

The holographic version of Andromeda appeared before Beka. "Harper is busy on a personal matter."

"Personal?" Beka found herself repeating.

"He will not be much longer," Andromeda simply answered.

"He's ok, right?" Beka checked.

"He is in good health," Andromeda agreed.

"That's not what I meant, not totally," Beka responded and saw Andromeda waver slightly before responding.

"Harper is fine, he's just having some issues with his implants," Andromeda confirmed.

"Nothing bad?"

"No, just things that need to be worked out so he can continue with his every day life," Andromeda stated.

"I'm assuming you know about the, whatever they are that are the Abyss's signature?" Beka motioned.

"The radical isotopes, yes," Andromeda answered.

Beka looked over to Harper and frowned. "He has the Abyss inside of him, no matter how insignificant it might be, it's still there inside him," Beka sighed. "I helped put it there," she added sadly.

"It could mean nothing," Andromeda reasoned.

Beka partially shrugged. "I have never regretted anything as much as what happened that day, it's all I can do to look him in the eye."

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Andromeda offered. "Harper is disconnecting, he has done all he needed to do in my mainframe."

"Thanks," Beka briefly smiled and composed herself, as she saw Harper stir and wake up, removing the jack before he sat up.

"Beka," Harper spoke as he gathered his senses.

"Least you're remembering my name now," Beka smiled.

"Yeah," Harper got to his feet.

"So you all sorted?" Beka asked, by way of conversation. They began to move towards the exit.

"Yeah, just needed to clear a few things, had to just figure out a few things, learn who I am all over again now these implants are working, downloaded some stuff from my personal files to help me," Harper spoke with a light tone. "I sometimes think it's going to take two of me to figure these implants out," he implied, hiding the secret smile.

"You'll do it, memories or no memories, I know you're smart enough to figure it out, Seamus," Beka encouraged. "Shame the Abyss didn't give you your memories back, but I guess we can't expect any favours from him."

"No," Harper agreed, his gut twisting for not letting Beka know the full situation, and that he did have his memories back. "But I don't feel I need them," he awkwardly smiled, inwardly remembering everything he cared to remember.

"And we still have each other," Beka smiled and moved her arm around Harper's shoulders and was momentarily taken aback when she felt Harper shirk away slightly. "Harper, is something wrong?"

"No, no," Harper dismissed and continued walking, before Beka caught him up.

"Harper, stop a moment," Beka requested and with a touch of frustration Harper stopped and looked at her, inwardly cursing his more natural instinct that had chosen that moment to remind him of the Beka that had attacked him in the conduit, a memory he had just made out he didn't remember. Beka took Harper's hand and it took all of the engineer's effort not to tense when she touched him. "We're cool right?"

"Yeah, course," Harper offered, but Beka's touch was reminding him, and all too vividly, as his breathing quickened slightly. "Can I go now?" he almost squeaked, needing to get away.

Beka was staring at him, and remained holding his hand. "You remember."

"Remember what?" Harper spoke all too quickly.

"Don't try it, Seamus, I've always been able to tell when you're lying," Beka stated firmly. "You remember what I did, why else are you suddenly all jumpy around me?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Harper panicked.

"This isn't instincts, I can see you are actually afraid of me," Beka surmised by looking at him closely.

"Beka, no," Harper dismissed with a smile. "I'm just confused, it's been a long day and the implants are giving me hell."

Beka stared at him for a while longer, and then backed away. "Are you really Seamus Harper?"

"What?" Harper quickly recovered his composure unsure of how to respond. "Of course I am, who else can I be?" he asked with genuine confusion.

"Maybe we're both over tired, we probably should both get some rest," Beka decided, and Harper too readily agreed.

"I didn't mean to jump, I'm just exhausted and the implants aren't helping," Harper softened, hoping Beka would buy his reasoning.

"Yeah, sorry, I shouldn't have been so sensitive, I know you need to rest, I know that Tabatha kept you awake," Beka frowned. "I'm sorry."

"It's ok, we can talk tomorrow," Harper stated, and realised that above all else, regardless of the memories that haunted him, he didn't want to lose Beka as a friend.

TBC


	43. Chapter 43

Part 43

"That was close," Harper remarked from inside the mainframe, as Andromeda looked on having just watched Beka walk off with the real organic 'Harper'.

"You should be unconscious," Andromeda reminded him.

"I'm getting to it, I just needed to see I'll be ok out there, it's weird to see myself walk off without me," Harper stated and glanced around the artificial world of the Andromeda mainframe, that felt so real to him now.

"That is you, as much you, as you are you," Rommie explained.

"Yeah, with wise words like that maybe save me from a bed time story," Harper frowned, as he settled back inside the secured environment. "Wake me if you need me, and wake me if you just want a little bit of Harper loving care."

"Harper, have you considered the possibility that I may never need to wake you?" Andromeda asked solemnly.

"Yeah I know that, and with the additional universe destroying shit I have in my head, that the other me has had removed, that's, to quote the golden one, the perfect possible future for all of us. The information in my head is dangerous and I really hope it will remain in limbo with me for ever," Harper simply responded. "But we have plan B if it all goes to hell, remember."

"I am working on plan B, as much as I wish I wasn't," Rommie frowned.

"We have to have a plan B, Romdoll," Harper frowned and then smiled. "Goodnight, Andromeda."

"Goodnight, Harper," Andromeda spoke with sadness, before the environment was sealed, and secured.

* * *

Dylan looked up from his morning coffee as Harper walked into his office, and he gestured to the young man to take a seat. When he had requested for Harper to come and see him for a chat it had seemed a good idea, but now Dylan was anxious. It had been only a day since Trance had informed them that Harper carried signatures of the Abyss inside of him, and even though there had been no actual evidence to suggest anything out of the ordinary, Dylan, as the captain and with a crew of nearly four hundred to look after, he knew he had to think as a captain and not as a friend for this meeting.

"Mr Harper, I trust you are rested after your ordeal?"

"Yeah, slept nearly twenty hours straight," Harper returned, looking equally anxious about the meeting, as he got comfortable in the hard seat.

"Has Trance had a chance to speak to you?"

"Briefly, I only woke up an hour ago, but she told me about the radical isotopes inside me," Harper offered. "I don't hear anything, or feel anything, Dylan I promise, I don't feel the Abyss presence like before."

"That's good to hear," Dylan agreed and sat up so he was leaning on his elbows across the desk from Harper. "However, I was duty bound to inform the Commonwealth Council about the developments, and they have come back to me with the order of taking extreme caution in view of this discovery."

"What does that mean exactly?" Harper asked, a little confused.

"That the request I sent for you to be reinstated and recognised in your former role as an engineer and scientist for the Commonwealth has been declined," Dylan revealed, and took a deep breath. "I'm sure after a few weeks this can be sent to appeal."

"I see," Harper frowned. "So I'm out of a job, do I have to leave as well?"

Dylan looked at Harper closely, on the surface it seemed he had taken the news well but there was a tone in Harper's voice that gave away a hurt he was feeling. "You can stay as a civilian on the ship, I insist, I have no desire to banish you from your home, Harper."

"Thanks," Harper only responded.

"Mr Harper you have to respect the councils concerns, we're all concerned but I have made a stand that you remain on board and they agreed to compromise on that point, but some areas and systems will now be off limits to you," Dylan stated and Harper looked away. "With the loss of your memories, this could give you an opportunity to study and try and build up your knowledge once again, using Andromeda's extensive database."

"Yeah, that will keep me busy," Harper agreed and then stood up.

"Harper, I tried but we're talking about our number one enemy, and we can't afford to lose to the Abyss," Dylan added.

"Sorry I messed up and let him get to me," Harper offered with little emotion.

"It's not like that, you didn't mess up and this isn't your fault," Dylan insisted.

"No, you're right," Harper turned back to Dylan. "I'm the victim, from the very start that's all I've been and now I lose my job and all I care about because of it, but don't worry about me, Dylan, I'll just keep out of sight with my self pity so I don't make this even harder for you."

Dylan got to his feet and walked around the desk. "Harper, wait," Dylan requested before Harper could activate the door to leave. "I have made some serious errors of judgement about you lately, and I apologise on all counts," he stated. "I'll turn a blind eye to things, and forget to make areas off limits if you can promise me that I'm not making another serious error of judgement in doing so."

Harper considered his words. "You mean off the record, work on the side, and don't turn all abyss agent on you?"

"In so many words, yeah," Dylan agreed with a fond smile.

Harper finally found a smirk. "I've never really been a proper member of your crew, Dylan, so why the hell start now, sure, why not," Harper shrugged. "Whatever, if you need my help I'll be on the Maru, and if I see a light bulb that needs replacing I won't wait for someone to tell me to do it."

"Well that will be an improvement, Mr Harper, not what we're use to," Dylan mocked.

"Funny," Harper grinned. "But you get my point, I really just want things to get back to normal around here, and I do want to try and re-learn all that I lost," Harper offered, and felt his gut twist once more with the build up of lies getting bigger.

"Do what you always do, and I'll have no reason not to request a review to re-instating you when enough time has passed," Dylan stated.

"Aye boss, trust in the Harper," Harper acknowledged and left the office, leaving Dylan even more anxious about whether he had just done the right thing or not, in defying the Commonwealth's concerns.

* * *

"Hey," Beka acknowledged as she entered the serving area of the Maru, having just finished a shift on command. Harper briefly looked up to acknowledge her before returning to the flexi he was reading. "What did Dylan want earlier?"

Harper shrugged. "Just that unofficially I'm back on the crew if needed."

"Unofficially?"

"Commonwealth think I'm a liability," Harper responded without looking up. "Something about the Abyss isotopes inside me giving them the jitters," he added with little emotion.

"Are you ok?" Beka thought to ask, noting the down tone of his voice.

"Yeah," Harper looked up and offered a smile. "How are things on command?"

"Broken, those cadets we got out of the commonwealth university are not a patch on the work you used to do single handily," Beka remarked. "We could really do with your genius coming back, things are starting to fall apart." Harper just stared at her, and Beka misread his expression. "Not that I'm blaming you, Seamus, not at all but I think we're all realising just how much work you used to do."

Harper looked away, and felt his gut churn for good measure. "Look, Beka," he got to his feet and was about to speak when Rommie appeared on one of the screens nearby.

"Beka, a dispute between two members of engineering is starting to get heated on mess desk, a senior officer should be present and you are closest," Rommie noted.

"On my way, Rommie," Beka noted and looked at Harper. "Why don't we chat later, just you and me, some good food and we'll talk, you look troubled."

"Yeah," Harper agreed, nodding his head and he watched as Beka left to settle the dispute leaving Harper to look at Andromeda on the screen. "So, is there really a dispute or was that you stopping me before I make a mistake?"

"Harper, you can't tell anyone," Andromeda reminded him.

"You heard Beka, they need me, hell you need my genius," Harper stressed with frustration. "I feel like such a shit just sitting here while you're falling apart because you do not have an efficient engineering team to look after you."

"The repairs are minor," Andromeda dismissed.

"I can't do this, I can't keep lying," Harper stated, and sat down heavily. "My gut feels like it's on fire, Rommie, I can't sleep and I don't feel like eating, I hate feeling like this," he despaired and ran his hand through his hair.

"Harper, remember what is at stake." Harper looked up and saw Rommie now stood at the entrance to the serving area, before she walked towards him and seated herself beside him.

"I don't like lying," Harper stressed, and felt Rommie's arm move around him, offering comfort.

"I don't like seeing you like this either but I have a copy of you stored within my matrix and we need to protect him," Rommie reminded Harper.

"And who protects me? I don't know if I can keep this up, Rommie, we downloaded the information Tabatha put inside me, can we do the same for my memories and knowledge, at least then I won't be lying when I say I can't do this stuff," Harper asked.

"Is that what you really want to do? You would also lose the knowledge that there is a copy of yourself in my matrix, I would have to ensure you do not jack in," Rommie responded.

Harper looked undecided. "What do you think?"

"As much as I know it troubles you, I think you should keep your wits about you," Rommie answered. "But if it's really giving you sleepless nights, maybe you could inform Dylan and Beka about your situation and the reasons why."

Harper was already agreeing, and seemed to brighten at the suggestion. "It would make it easier," he stated and looked at Rommie. "Thanks, for everything, Rom doll, I really appreciate this, I really do."

"Anytime, Harper," Rommie squeezed him slightly. "We need to stick together now."

"You don't think me telling Dylan and Beka that I lied is going to cause problems?" Harper then thought to ask.

"What kind of problems?"

"Well, last time they decided I'd done something wrong I was shot at and," Harper paused awkwardly. "And molested, pretty much, I mean, I know you said everything is fine but is it? They will understand, right?"

"Odd," Rommie suddenly spoke, out of context, and Harper looked at her before she stood up and moved to the side. "Tyr is coming, we'll talk more once he is gone."

"Rommie, stay, why are you going?" Harper asked, seeing Rommie step into a side room.

"Tyr has asked my ship self if you are alone, I'm intrigue to discover why he would ask such a thing," Rommie stated.

"You told him I was alone?" Harper checked. "Rommie, I don't want to see Tyr alone, I can't do this, I," Harper paused and clenched his eyes shut before opening them again and taking a deep breath. He felt like he was losing control, with the lying and the deceit, with sudden despair Harper felt the edges of a panic attack but before it could take hold he managed to calm himself down enough, and a strange sensation of calm came over him. Harper spun round on hearing footsteps before looking back to see Rommie had now hidden herself out of sight. With confusion Harper saw Tyr enter the room, and stare back at him.

"Were you expecting me?" Tyr asked.

"No," Harper quickly answered, a little flustered. "Just heard footsteps, so wondered who it was, Beka just left," he offered.

"I was looking for you," Tyr stated.

"Oh," Harper gulped without meaning to, but he was a little unnerved by Rommie's suspicions and his own reactions just moments earlier. "Strange to be back, isn't it?" he offered meekly.

"It was not a part of my plan," Tyr admitted as he took a seat directly opposite Harper, with nothing between them. Tyr now stared at Harper, and it was as if he was reading into his very soul, as Harper looked away.

"I guess I messed things up," Harper shrugged. "Doing that a lot lately."

"You did not mess up, I did," Tyr admitted.

"Did you just admit you did something wrong?"

"I always admit my mistakes when I make them, I just don't make them often," Tyr returned, and offered a quick smile. "I need to talk to you about Tabatha."

"Ok," Harper agreed, and glanced at Tyr. "What do you need to know?"

"I'm not sure," Tyr offered and then sighed. "Harper, you know Tabatha put information inside you, information about my son?"

"Yeah, I know that much," Harper admitted.

"I need to know he is safe, I need to know where he is," Tyr stated. "He's been missing, along with his carer for the past two weeks and it's slowly killing me not knowing if he is safe and well," Tyr stressed in a hushed voice.

Harper hesitated and looked around. "I can't help you," he answered but his mind was screaming at him, telling him he was wrong, unnerving him slightly.

"I know that, but all I ask Harper is if you remember anything, if this study you are doing enables you to translate just a small part of what that woman put inside your head, please, all I want is the location of my son," Tyr stood up and looked at Harper before leaving. "My son is my life, and while you hold the information to my seeing him again I will protect you life as if it is my own, rest assured no harm will come to you."

Harper half smiled and shrugged. "Ok, I'll see what I can do," Harper offered, and narrowed his eyes as the beginnings of a head ache took hold.

"That's all I ask," Tyr responded. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah," Harper absently answered. "Think I'm getting a headache, maybe a migraine, not had one of those for a while," he added in explanation.

"I trust you know the way to the med deck, if needed," Tyr responded, an ironic grin briefly seen.

"Yeah, funny," Harper responded, and then watched Tyr leave before remembering to breathe again, as Rommie stepped from the shadows.

"Well, another reason to hold back on revealing the information if it means you have Tyr as your personal body guard."

"I don't know, Rommie," Harper slumped and then sat up abruptly. "I have the information he seeks right inside you," he stated a little too urgently causing Rommie to frown. "What I mean is, who am I to deny Tyr his son?" Harper asked, reverting back to his down state.

"Harper, do you think Tyr will stop at his son?" Rommie asked.

Harper sighed and knew she had a point. "I hate this, this isn't right, it doesn't feel right."

"Harper, you don't know where Tyr's son is," Rommie reminded him.

"But I know how I could find out," Harper corrected. "Just as bad."

"We need to protect your other self, never forget that," Rommie stated.

"My other self, of course," Harper spoke and then half smiled. "You know, I never thought I'd hate myself, but I'm starting too," Harper stood up and moved to the server to grab some beer. "Look at me Rom doll, I'm lying to my own crew, and I'm betraying them just like they feared that day only now I deserve to be shot for what I'm doing, I don't feel brilliant right now."

Rommie moved in front of Harper and grabbed his arms so she had his attention. "No, Harper, you do not deserve to be shot for this, you are protecting us all, and this universe, and I'm helping you do that," Rommie stressed firmly. "We're in this together, you're not alone, Harper."

On instinct Harper moved forward and simply embraced Rommie, and she felt him holding her tightly, not wanting to let go it seemed. "I can count on you, right?" Harper murmured.

"Always, Harper," Rommie returned. "Are you sure you're ok, I heard you mention a head ache?"

"Yeah, head is thumping," Harper said still holding Rommie close. "But I'm ok, just over tired I think, stressed by all the lying, head is seeking revenge on me," he offered tiredly.

"Oh, sorry," Beka offered as she returned and found Harper clinging to Rommie in a tight embrace. "Hope I'm not disturbing anything?"

"No," Rommie simply answered and encouraged Harper to move away, and he did so without comment and avoiding Beka's amused stare. "Thank you for sorting out that dispute," she offered to Beka.

"It was nothing, literally, just a spat, my very presence seemed to do the trick," Beka dismissed, but she was looking at Harper. "I'm about to cook myself some food, are you hungry, Harper?"

Harper glanced up and nodded his head, before looking at Rommie. "Thanks," he said.

"I need to get back to work, remember what I said, and take something for your head," Rommie stated before leaving, and Harper simply nodded his head.

"What do you fancy? I was thinking of just heating up some snack type food?" Beka offered. "And there's some general head ache cures in the med packs in the store room if you need one?" she added.

"Yeah, not fussed," Harper answered and took a gulp of beer. "And Rommie's just fussing, my head is already clearing," he half smiled.

Beka busied herself preparing the food but her gaze didn't leave Harper for long, he was quiet and she was growing concerned. "Harper if you want to talk?" she prompted.

"I can't," Harper offered distantly and then looked at Beka. "I mean, it makes no difference, I'm just down about the general scheme of things."

Beka offered a sympathetic smile. "Your genius will return, it's never left you."

Harper smiled back at Beka. "Thanks for keeping the faith," he offered and stood up to stand next to Beka. "I can depend on you, right?"

"Of course," Beka agreed.

"I know things got a bit funny for a while, what with, you know," Harper attempted to explain.

"So you do remember?"

"Just snatches," Harper shrugged. "Kinda freaky, doesn't make much sense but Rommie explained to me the circumstances around it, so I'm cool," he offered.

"Good, I'm glad," Beka sighed with relief. "I don't ever want to lose your trust, Seamus."

Harper took a deep breath, and closed his eyes for a moment before looking at the food Beka was preparing. "I need all the friends I can get right now," he stated.

"It's not as bad as that, Seamus," Beka encouraged, as her free hand moved around his shoulders. "Give it time and everyone will be back to normal around you and all your genius will come back to you, I promise."

"I hope so," Harper stated.

* * *

Trance's eyes flew open and she caught herself from falling, as she gripped the side of the counter on med deck, where she had been working just moments earlier. Taking some measured breaths, Trance calmed her senses down and she glanced around to make sure she was alone.

"Andromeda," Trance spoke up. "Locate Seamus Harper."

"Seamus Harper is currently on the Eureka Maru with Beka," Andromeda responded, her image flashed up on the screen closest to Trance. "Is there a problem, Trance?"

"I'm not sure," Trance offered.

"You look troubled."

"I've just had an intense vision," Trance admitted. "So vivid, and unlike any I have had before."

"Are you ok?" Andromeda asked.

"I sense the darkness," Trance spoke with fear. "The Abyss was taunting me, he is here among us, he's close."

"Trance, there's only one possible way that could be true."

"I can not sense Seamus Harper on board this ship, Andromeda, and it's in the same way that I can not sense the Abyss if he so desires," Trance stated. "The Abyss is among us."

"What should we do?"

"Before, we were the only ones who trusted Seamus Harper when all others doubted him," Trance feared. "Now we must doubt him, and expect that the others will trust him because of past transgressions, they will not accept that Harper is not who he says he is, Andromeda, we have lost Seamus Harper to the Abyss, but how do I tell the others?"

"Seamus Harper is not lost, Trance," Andromeda stated.

"Andromeda you have to trust me, Seamus Harper has been taken by the Abyss, he is not the person we believe he is," Trance stated.

Andromeda looked down and then back to Trance. "I believe you Trance, and I feel we need to inform Dylan and take it from there."

Trance nodded her head and quickly moved to the exit.

TBC


	44. Chapter 44

Sorry for the lack of posting lately, I was on vacation for a couple of weeks in America, but I'm back now and posting should resume as before!

Part 44

Beka smiled as Harper helped her clean up, having just enjoyed a quick snack. "Are you sure you're ok, you've never offered to help me clean up before," she noted looking at Harper.

"I feel I owe you," Harper shrugged.

"Seamus, after everything that has happened you do not owe me anything, trust me," Beka stated firmly. "I have a whole heap of payback to you due."

"Just never stop being my friend," Harper asked.

Beka narrowed her eyes and looked at Harper for a moment. "Do you think I would?"

Awkwardly Harper shrugged and then glanced at Beka. "I just want things to be like before," he offered.

Beka reached forward and embraced her friend fondly. "Seamus, I will do everything in my power to make you trust me again, I promise."

"That's all I need," Harper smiled into her embrace.

* * *

"Where is Harper now?" Dylan asked.

"With Beka on the Maru," Rommie revealed, in her android form.

"This is going to get messy, Trance, are you absolutely sure the Seamus Harper we have on board is an agent to the Abyss?" Dylan asked and saw Trance hesitate, not helping his confidence. "Trance, we made mistakes last time and it almost cost us, and I am in no hurry to make those same mistakes again."

"Dylan, we know Harper was displaying a number of radical isotopes, and the Abyss is within range to taunt me enough that I can feel him," Trance insisted.

"So we just arrive on the Maru and what, exactly?" Dylan questioned.

"I don't know, but that is not Seamus Harper, and we can not identify that being as the person we once knew," Trance stated. "That person has stolen Harper's identity and we can not let our feelings for that person blind us to the truth, he is the Abyss, or an agent of."

Dylan sighed loudly and looked away for a moment. "I need more proof, Trance."

"Which is exactly why the Abyss has chosen Harper, he's identified a weakness in our defence and is abusing it," Trance stressed.

"And what if you're wrong?" Dylan stressed abruptly. "I go onto the Maru and kill Seamus Harper in cold blood because you told me to?"

There was a silence now, as the words sunk in. Trance nervously glanced between Dylan and Rommie before they all turned their attention to Tyr as he arrived into the room.

"I will kill him," Tyr announced calmly.

"No, Tyr, no one is killing anyone until I am sure we have our facts straight," Dylan stressed.

Tyr simply offered a brief smile. "Well its good to see some common sense coming into play, I was just speaking to Harper and I did not get any indication that he was not who he claims to be," Tyr offered, looking at Trance.

"Let me talk to him before we make any decision," Rommie requested. "I will be able to scan him discreetly, and get you all the information you need to determine the facts."

The screen flashed up with the image of Andromeda. "Please let my avatar speak with Harper before you make a decision, things may not be as they appear," she stressed and her concern was hard to mask.

"Now that's a plan I can accept," Dylan sighed.

"Captain, I do agree with Tyr that outwardly Harper has displayed no reasons for us to doubt him," Rommie informed him, glancing at Andromeda on the screen, a show of support for her sister.

"I would never suggest we kill Harper, not unless I was sure that it wasn't Harper," Trance explained in her defence. "The Abyss can take control of a person at whim, maybe twenty minutes ago Harper was the real genuine Harper, but only because that's what the Abyss wanted, but things have changed and right now all I can tell you is that the Seamus Harper we knew is no longer among us, he's been killed by the Abyss."

"When I last spoke to Harper he was racked with guilt, and sounding very much like Seamus Harper," Rommie stated defiantly. "Trance, we have to be sure because you saw the consequences of the last time we doubted him."

"Why was he racked with guilt?" Dylan caught and looked at Rommie for an answer.

"I'm not at liberty to say," Rommie responded.

"Guilt would suggest he's hiding something," Tyr moved forward, his stare burned into Rommie. "I was speaking with him less than half an hour ago, am I to assume his guilt is connected to what I discussed with him?"

Rommie momentarily closed her eyes, cursing herself for making such an error in judgement. "Harper wishes that he could help you, feels he should be able to," Rommie simply answered, knowing it was partially the truth.

"When a ship is capable of lying to its crew we have even more reasons to be concerned at this time," Tyr stressed loudly and before anyone could react, Tyr stormed off.

"OK, I think Seamus Harper might need us to pay him a visit for very different reasons now," Dylan gestured with urgency for everyone to move. "And if he is actually an agent to the Abyss, I think we might find out pretty soon, if Tyr has anything to do with it."

* * *

"Harper, what are you doing?" Beka asked arriving at the Maru's engineering section to find Harper with a jack connector in his hand.

"I thought I'd cram some more study in," Harper offered.

"It's late, and you've complained of head aches, maybe you've done enough today," Beka suggested.

"I think I'll be the judge of that," Harper dismissed.

Beka moved forward. "Harper, rest," she insisted firmly and saw Harper hesitate.

The screen closest to Harper suddenly flashed with Andromeda's image. "A remote connection to my mainframe is not possible at the moment; my engineering team have taken the link to the Maru off line for maintenance."

"What?" Harper barked angrily.

"See, another reasons for you to rest," Beka smiled, glad of Andromeda's interruption. With some frustration Harper dropped the connector and stalked away to the far end of the engine room. "Seamus, I'm sure it'll be fixed by the time you wake up," she broached, still sensing anger.

"I know," Harper was trying to be calm, but Beka could still hear angered tones. "I just wanted to finish what I was doing."

"Harper, you have not accessed my main frame today, and you have no unfinished business," Andromeda corrected with concern that Beka couldn't place.

With more obvious anger, Harper spun around. "What is this? I just want to better myself, why the obstructions?"

"Ok, I think you need to rest, you're obviously a little tense right now," Beka gestured defensively.

Harper took a deep breath and looked around. "I'm sorry," he offered. "I just feel so," he paused, as he tried to think. "I hate this," he finished, and Beka moved closer. "I don't feel in control anymore, I can't," he paused again but Beka simply embraced him to silence her troubled friend.

"It will get better, I promise," Beka assured him.

"You don't understand," Harper sounded close to despair. "I'm not that person I use to," he paused and seemed to tense, alarming Beka as she moved back to study his face, keeping a hold on him fearing he'd fall if she didn't.

"Harper?"

Slowly he opened his eyes and looked at Beka. "Ignore me, you're right, over tired and a little emotional, maybe I should go and rest," Harper calmly spoke.

"Yeah, do that," Beka agreed, but remained holding him. "You look terrible, sleep is what you need."

"Yeah," Harper agreed and moved out of Beka's hold, looking exhausted and drawn. Just as he was about to start moving towards the crew quarters he stopped on seeing Tyr at the other end of the gangway. "Tyr?"

"We need to talk," Tyr stated.

"We do?" Harper asked, and glanced at Beka. "You should go, I'm fine and you need to get back to duty, right?"

"Right," Beka agreed, but her stare never left Tyr. "You sure you want me to go?"

"Go, Beka, leave us," Tyr stated.

"Ok, going," Beka decided and left Harper and Tyr alone.

"So what do you want?" Harper asked defiantly.

"Answers, tell me why you are hiding them from me," Tyr demanded.

"So you figured it out?" Harper cockily responded. "I should give uber's more credit; they do have some brain cells after all."

"Don't test me, boy," Tyr walked forward.

Harper wavered for a moment on seeing Tyr approach with purpose. "I seriously didn't mean to," he stammered before taking a deep breath, subconsciously reaching for the railing to steady himself. "Tyr, help," he simply said, and appeared to be short of breath.

"I want the information you know about my son," Tyr demanded.

"Tyr, please," Harper stressed, gripping the rail now.

"Do not play games with me," Tyr stated firmly.

Harper straightened himself up and met with Tyr's stare, standing practically toe to toe as he found a new energy. "I've knocked you down before, uber."

"You got lucky," Tyr stated, and he made to grab at Harper's arm only to suddenly feel himself being easily pushed aside, and without explanation Tyr crashed to the deck having somehow found himself being thrown over the railing. As unconsciousness loomed, Tyr opened his eyes enough with a groan to see the smiling face of Seamus Harper looking down on him, and a flicker of fire in his eyes.

* * *

"Tyr's down," Rommie simply said and quickened her pace as she led the pack, ignoring Beka who she passed on entering the Maru.

"Excuse me?" Dylan caught up with Rommie, needing an explanation.

"What the hell is going on?" Beka then demanded, as she got into step with the captain as he walked onto her ship.

"Tyr is down, he needs urgent medical attention, Trance go and prep med deck," Rommie ordered, and Trance didn't question Rommie and quickly walked away.

"I just left Tyr with Harper, what do you mean he needs medical attention?" Beka questioned. "What happened?" They continued moving with speed, but no answers were coming from the android. "Will someone talk to me?" Beka yelled.

"Beka, there's no easy way to say this but Harper isn't Harper," Dylan attempted and regretted his words before he'd even spoken them, as Beka glared at him with contempt.

"Is there another gas leak?" Beka questioned.

"I really hope there is, Beka, but right now I'm clean," Rommie simply said as they arrived in engineering.

"Harper!" Beka suddenly saw the fallen figure of her friend, but Rommie hurried to Tyr's side with Dylan.

Tyr was bleeding heavily from a head wound, and his body was lying in a way that did not look good for the large man. Dylan glanced over to Harper and saw the human appeared unconscious, but seeing no obvious signs of harm. Rommie was looking at Harper before she encouraged Dylan to move closer so she could whisper.

"Harper is not unconscious," Rommie informed him, making sure Beka could not hear her. "Sir, the last thing I want to do is doubt Harper, he means the world to me and he created me, but Harper did this to Tyr, somehow."

"I can't believe that," Dylan dismissed and brought his hand to his face. "I'm sorry Rommie but it doesn't make sense."

"Sadly, if Trance is right with her suspicion, it makes perfect sense," Rommie stated.

"And when we thought Harper was an intruder it made perfect sense then too, but we later discovered the gas," Dylan snapped and moved away to clear his mind. The Maria bots arrived and with care under Rommie's supervision they took Tyr's broken body to med deck for Trance to begin patching him up.

"Harper, please wake up," Beka was heard to plead and slowly to her joy, Harper began to stir and made a good show of groggily waking up.

"Rommie, I know what Harper means to you, but are you sure that he did this and that he's not hurt?" Dylan asked.

Rommie considered the captain's question and she faced and inward battle, as she glanced over to a now awake Harper who chose then to smile back at her with the affection he had always shown towards her. In that moment Rommie couldn't be completely sure that it wasn't Seamus Harper looking back at her, and she sighed before looking at Dylan. "No, captain, I can't be sure."

"Give me alternatives to what happened, I want them on my desk by end of shift," Dylan simply ordered before moving over to where Harper was now getting to his feet. "Harper, are you ok?"

"Yeah, man, what happened?" Harper asked.

"We're not sure," Dylan admitted, and observed the fuss Beka was making over the engineer.

"Where's Tyr, Tyr was right here, where is he?" Harper glanced around.

"He's hurt, we've had to take him to med deck," Dylan answered.

"He'll be ok, right?" Harper checked.

"Time will tell," Dylan frowned. "You should rest."

"So everyone keeps telling me," Harper smirked and then rubbed his head.

"Come on, I'm going to make sure you find your bunk this time," Beka stressed and led Harper away.

"Get me proof," Dylan reiterated to Rommie once Beka and Harper had left, seeing she had remained observing. "Something isn't right," he added with uncertainty of his own now.

"Ay captain," Rommie responded and watched Dylan leave, as she began to sweep engineering for any possible clues to what happened.

TBC


	45. Chapter 45

sorry its been so long between parts this time, work was hectic and stole my insanity!

Part 45

"Captain," Tyr announced as he slowly approached the captain's desk.

"Tyr, you're up already?" Dylan sat back and checked the Nietzschean, seeing only slight hints at any injuries he might have recovered from.

"I heal quickly," Tyr simply said and took a seat, showing a brief sign of discomfort from his legs.

"Tyr, what happened?" Dylan asked.

"Harper," Tyr paused, as if finding it hard to say the words. "Surprised me, showed strength he does not possess, at least not naturally."

"The video files show static, and Andromeda has been unable to give me anything of any use," Dylan rubbed his face and sighed. "Tyr it's your word against Harper's and he can't remember a thing."

"And you are unable to believe that the human could throw a Nietzschean over a railing?" Tyr guessed.

"You're twice the size of the man, both in height and bulk, do you blame me?" Dylan returned.

"And do you believe me?"

"Do I really have a choice, all medical evidence suggests you are speaking the truth," Dylan got to his feet.

"I saw fire in his eyes, and not the kind I would expect," Tyr spoke with a low voice.

"Fire?"

"The Abyss," Tyr spoke, his voice wavering only slightly. "We have to do something."

"So now that's two who claim the Abyss has taken Harper," Dylan frowned and saw the brief anxious look Tyr threw him before looking away.

* * *

"Harper."

The confusion was only fleeting and soon Harper was alert and removing himself from the protective environment inside Rommie's mainframe.

"Crap, it must be bad."

"Harper, it is."

"How bad?"

"Imagine bad, and then triple it," Andromeda spoke, as her artificial environment adjusted around them.

"Crap," Harper spoke and stretched his virtual form. "The Abyss?"

"You know?" Andromeda questioned with confusion.

"Why did you think I concocted plan B?" Harper questioned. "I thought I felt him, Rommie," he said uneasily. "But I was hoping I was just being overly paranoid."

"You attacked Tyr, he was hurt."

"Correction, 'he' attacked Tyr, not me, I've been quietly passing the time in my little world in there," Harper was quick to mention. "And I was about to retire to my penthouse with two delicious babes with," Harper paused remembering his company. "But anyway, thanks," he griped. "But on reflection I guess my attention should be here, so am I ready?"

"You're ready."

"And who knows about plan B?"

"Just me."

"Seriously? You didn't inform captain perfect or anyone else?" Harper checked.

"I never thought you'd have to revert to it, I had hoped you'd remain in stasis for ever," Andromeda frowned.

"But you did follow my plan, right? Down to every last detail, you didn't skim over any areas?"

"In every detail, and I wore gloves," Rommie knowingly raised an eyebrow. "But I might have made it more historically correct, rather than far fetched," she added with a smirk. "And then hoped that my other selves, as well as the crew would not accidentally discover it," Andromeda mentioned. "That would have raised a lot of awkward questions about my spare time allocation."

"You didn't even tell your other selves? Rom Doll, you really were protecting me!" Harper smiled. "You do want me all to yourself, I always suspected," he joked.

"Just assure me that you are not contaminated," Andromeda stated.

"Scan me and see, feel free to poke and nibble for all your worth," Harper lifted his arms up and offered himself to her scan.

Andromeda took a moment to do as Harper suggested, she needed the peace of mind and was happy to discover no trace of any isotopes that could be Abyss related. "You're clean."

"Kinda easy when you ditch the body," Harper grinned suggestively.

"Can you really do this?" Andromeda asked. "Harper, this isn't a game and," she paused. "This changes everything."

"Name a better candidate," Harper shrugged. "And don't worry about me, think of it as a new beginning, a fresh start with better advantages from the offset," he spoke with passion.

"A better candidate would be Tyr."

"No, no way, he doesn't need the practice or encouragement!" Harper stressed as he began to move. "I don't ever need to see that if I'm to at least keep my peace of mind," Harper stated with genuine fear.

"Dylan would do it."

"And then forever live in regret and self mourning, no thanks, he'd find some moral high ground," Harper stated. "I seriously don't want the issues that would come with that."

"Harper," Andromeda stopped him from moving. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Harper turned to Andromeda, seeing her concern and he simply embraced her fondly. "I don't want to but I have to, before it's too late."

"But," Andromeda paused, enjoying the close contact with Harper that she'd never experienced before. "It will be the end."

"No, a beginning, Rom Doll," Harper quietly spoke, his own fear sounding in his tone. "Look, it's true I can't go back, and you and I know that," Harper whispered. "It's too dangerous for me to even try for so many reasons, so I have to do this because otherwise it truly is the end, for all of us, I have to destroy that body I once lived in."

Rommie squeezed Harper before moving away from the embrace. "We should go now, it's becoming more obvious that the Seamus Harper I have on board is not the man he once was, and he's with Beka."

"Let's go," Harper quickly agreed and they both blinked out of sight.

* * *

Beka glanced over at Harper and smiled, seeing that he was staring at her. "Are you ok?" she asked. "You look a little tired."

"You do trust me, right?"

"Harper, I know you too well to trust you, so just tell me what you've done and I'll attempt to make things right with Dylan, before he finds out," Beka joked but saw Harper wasn't smiling in return. "Of course I trust you," she confirmed. "What's this about? Why do you keep asking?"

"I'm not convinced the others do, I remember things," Harper stressed looking anxious as he tensed up.

Beka quickly got to her feet and moved to Harper's side. "You have to believe me, we've moved on from that and we totally trust you, Harper."

Harper was about to respond when Beka heard the com signal and then Dylan's voice. "Beka, could you report to command, I need your advice."

"Now?" Beka questioned.

"Yes, if that's ok?" Dylan's voice returned.

"I'm kinda busy," Beka glanced at Harper fondly. "Can it wait?"

"Not really," Dylan spoke but didn't add anymore.

"Well what is it?" Beka questioned.

Harper moved closer and whispered. "He doesn't trust me, and he doesn't like you spending time with me."

Beka gave Harper a quizzical look before hearing Dylan respond. "I can't discuss that over the comms," Dylan returned.

"Told you," Harper spoke under his breath.

"Dylan, look, Harper needs a friend right now, can't it wait just an hour or so?" Beka asked. "We owe him that much," she added to reassure Harper, confident that Dylan would understand.

"I said now, Beka," Dylan instead responded. "I need you on command."

"Not until you tell me why," Beka insisted.

"That's not possible."

"It's because of Harper isn't it?" Beka decided to test Harper's theory.

"What?" Dylan sounded genuinely caught out. "No, it's not a matter I can discuss in front of everyone."

Beka closed her eyes, hoping Harper's paranoia hadn't just got her in trouble with Dylan. "OK, fine, I'll be right there."

"No!" Harper objected and put his arm around Beka as she tried to move from his side.

"Harper?" Dylan's voice sounded confused.

"Harper, let go, you heard Dylan he just needs to talk, I'll be right back," Beka insisted.

"Don't go, they'll turn you against me," Harper stressed with panic, looking at Beka with pleading eyes.

"Mr Harper, I can assure you I'll do no such thing," Dylan stressed.

"I think he should go to medical, that bump on the head may be more serious than I thought," Beka suggested but Harper's grip got tighter around her.

"End communication," Harper stated but there was no signal. "I said end communication!" Harper raged.

"Andromeda does not recognise you as an active crew member," Beka reminded him and then sighed, seeing Harper looking desperate. "Dylan, I'll be there in five, end communication."

"Beka wait!" Dylan was heard just before his voice cut out.

"See!" Harper used Dylan's last words as proof of his conviction.

"Ok, what the hell is going on?" Beka demanded and forced her way out of Harper's grip.

"They don't trust me, don't you see it?" Harper returned, and looked lost. "I need a friend, you're my friend right?" Harper checked and Beka couldn't help herself seeing Harper so down. Moving back towards Harper she reached out and embraced him fondly, not reacting when Harper brought her closer and tighter into the embrace.

"I'll always be by your side, Seamus, you know that," she assured him gently, and let him continue to hold her.

* * *

"How does that feel?"

"Weird."

"Are you ok?"

"I think I realise now what you were trying to warn me about," Harper offered.

"No turning back."

"Thanks for the reminder," Harper sighed. "I guess this is me now."

"Try moving," Rommie suggested thoughtfully. "And using your body."

"Instead of abusing it?" Harper quipped and quickly sat up, looking around. "So this is what it's like to be Rommie?"

"I'm not entirely sure about that," Andromeda answered from the screen. "She was born in an artificial environment, you were not."

"I can hear my movements, it's distracting," Harper complained as he moved his legs.

"With time you will no longer hear that, as you use your body and grow familiar with its sounds," Andromeda assured him.

"I've actually done it, I've become the one thing I've always understood, I'm a machine," Harper grasped the reality as he stood up and caught a reflection of his near identical appearance to his biological body. "I mean it feels so different, no pain, that's a big plus and no," he paused and tried to determine his feelings. "No excuses."

"No excuses?" Andromeda questioned.

"I don't have my old hang ups, my poor immune system, my poor diet, no radiation damage, I'm whole again and in perfect working order," Harper acknowledged with some trepidation. "You did an amazing job with just the Maria bots to help you."

"You might have to do some fine tuning, where an expert hand is required, we're not sure we got the sensitivities right, your plan wasn't clear on that and a couple of other things," Andromeda admitted.

"It appears fine," Harper admired his new android body, built to the same technical specs as Andromeda's own avatar and looking so very lifelike, wearing some of his own clothes, it was hard for Harper to see anything different to his outward appearance, even down to the fine hairs on the back of his hands.

"The job was made easier by the Persieds work to transfer your brain matter to the data modules when you were upgraded with the implants," Andromeda offered some additional credit. "Everything else was simply cosmetic."

"I'm no longer human," Harper nearly choked on his words.

"You're still human inside, where it matters," Andromeda spoke with some sincerity and Harper turned to her and smiled.

"Yeah," he agreed. "Boy did I need to hear that," he added with a nervous laugh.

"Are you ready?"

"I guess," Harper looked suddenly nervous again.

"He's still with Beka and I fear the consequences if we do not act now," Andromeda informed him.

"First, tell Dylan about me, everything," Harper ordered. "While you're doing that, I go visit Beka and save her from me," he stated with a worried frown. "End my life," he then added and simulated a gulp. "I never thought I'd be the one to kill me, after everything I've been through I go and kill myself."

"It's not the same," Andromeda reminded him. "You're still alive, and you will be for a long while yet."

Harper simply nodded his head. "Give me access to the weapons locker, and see if the others can't give me some back up, once you've explained."

"Good luck, Harper, and welcome to my world," Andromeda smiled fondly.

Flexing his hands, Harper released he had no breath to take a deep one with, and instead tried to push down the incredible need to try and take everything in, and adjust to who he now was, it was all happening so quickly that he was struggling to contain the mixed signals he was getting from his own mechanical body. He was no longer human, he was now an android and this just wasn't right, he finally considered but seeing Andromeda looking at him with concern, he instead said nothing and left the room to effectively destroy himself.

TBC


	46. Chapter 46

can you beleive the end is actually nearly here... woot woot ;) thanks for sticking with this, its been a real pleasure, enjoying writing this a lot :)

Part 46

"Dylan, something isn't right," Rommie announced as she strode onto command. "But I don't know what it is." Dylan and Tyr glanced over to her, and eventually even Trance looked up as well when Rommie momentarily closed her eyes. "Something is very wrong, I'm sensing something."

"The Abyss?" Trance ventured.

"I'm not sure," Rommie answered.

"I can explain," Andromeda spoke as she flashed up on screen.

"You can?" Rommie looked sceptically at her sister. "You've been hiding something," she then realised without explanation.

"Andromeda, care to explain what it is you've been hiding?" Dylan prompted when Andromeda failed to correct her avatar's accusation.

"Harper," Rommie simply answered instead, and then looked straight at Andromeda. "What is going on?"

"I'm about to ask the same, would you two care to let me in?" Dylan offered showing frustration.

Andromeda looked between Rommie and Dylan before speaking. "Harper asked for our help," she began looking at Rommie.

"He asked me if he could store certain information inside your, our mainframe," Rommie agreed. "I simply assumed, or rather was led to believe that had been done."

"What information?" Tyr spoke up from his console, suddenly interested.

"When Harper awoke from the incident with the Abyss he realised all of his memories and core intellect had been restored," Rommie began, avoiding Tyr's now questioning gaze. "He was afraid of the knowledge he possessed, and I guess, although he didn't make his concerns known, that he was aware then that the Abyss wouldn't have been so generous to have not left some sort of mark on him." Rommie looked around before continuing. "I understood his fears as genuine, so we decided to protect the information by storing his memories and intellect inside our mainframe until the danger had passed," Rommie stated looking at Andromeda. "The information he possessed would have put him in grave danger, it was too sensitive for him to hide alone and that is why we agreed to help, and we kept it between just us," she added looking from Andromeda to Dylan. "I'm sorry Captain, but no one was supposed to find out," she said as she glared at Andromeda.

"So, I guess we didn't notice his loss of memories because he was already in that state after his time with Tabatha. But how would that stop the Abyss taking him?" Dylan asked. "If anything it seems he's made the Abyss's work easier to possess him by not having his full awareness or intellect inside to defeat him, I fail to understand how this has helped Harper."

"It wasn't just the Abyss the boy was afraid of," Tyr stated and moved closer.

"The Abyss gave him full knowledge to a lot of things, universally sensitive information," Rommie emphasised looking at Tyr. "A number of people would have done a number of things to him if they even suspected he understood what he had inside his head, and we thought it was in everyone's best interest to take that away from Harper and lock that information away, until a time it could be properly evaluated and we could keep it protected," Rommie stated.

"We don't have time to point fingers or make judgements," Andromeda then spoke up looking at Tyr.

"Why?" Dylan asked.

"Because Harper didn't just store his memories or intellect inside of me," Andromeda stated. "He stored his entire being."

"What?" Rommie responded turning to the screen. "That was not the plan," she stressed and then considered what had happened. "Harper disconnected from his body when he was connected to our mainframe," she paused as everyone listened intently. "His implant technology enabled him to keep a copy of himself within his body while he was connected, so by disconnecting that link he was then able to duplicate his core personality, one stayed in the system and one remained in his body, so he cut himself off and effectively, no," Rommie began shaking her head. "He's got two consciousnesses now, but only one body. Andromeda what have you done?"

"If there are two consciousnesses doesn't this increase the chance that there's now two Abyss influences on board?" Trance asked with confusion.

"And that the information you were trying to protect has been duplicated?" Dylan stated.

"No, when Harper jacked into the mainframe he took the information, and his core intellect that we were planning to store safely with him," Rommie answered.

"So now tell me why it is bad that two conscious's exist?" Dylan had to ask, not appreciating the concern.

"Two conscious's can not exist in one body, and his body is currently being taken by the Abyss," Rommie began to explain but was interrupted by her sister.

"There are two consciousnesses yes, but there are also two bodies," Andromeda evenly spoke. "And Harper will require your assistance, as he's on his way to deal with the bigger threat."

"I don't believe this, that's what I can feel?" Rommie stressed.

"What do you feel?" Dylan asked with bewilderment.

"Seamus Harper is no longer human on two fronts," Rommie stated with anger in her voice.

"The Abyss?" Trance tried to offer.

"And the android," Andromeda finished.

"Excuse me?" Dylan checked. "You mean?"

"Seamus Harper's consciousness, at least one of them now exists within an android body," Rommie glared at her sister with some contempt. "How could you do this behind our backs, did Harper put you up to this and if so, have you asked why?"

"What do you mean?" Andromeda asked a little confused.

"You allow Harper to purposely detach himself from his body, a fully aware and intelligent Harper, with a mind we should suspect has been tainted by the Abyss containing universally sensitive information, and he asks you behind our backs to build him a fully working, strong android body so that he may live, and you don't at any point question why?"

"It was my decision not to tell you," Andromeda stated.

"Then we should wonder if his conscious was truly stored, or if he was up to something else while he was inside you," Rommie suggested with some concern.

"No!" Andromeda practically yelled. "We can trust him, I trust him, I took all precautions available to me, Harper only wants to help you and he is not being controlled by the Abyss, there is only one of his consciousness' that has been taken over and Harper is on his way now to solve this situation."

"Harper is heading towards his quarters, where Beka is with the other him, the one we suspect is the Abyss," Rommie stated.

"Trance, you used scans from this ship to determine that Harper is consumed by the Abyss, correct?" Dylan began to move.

"Correct," Trance confirmed.

"No longer a reliable source," Dylan stated.

"Captain I can assure you," Andromeda began.

"I'm sorry, Andromeda, but I have to consider all possibilities and one of them is that you may have been duped by this other Harper," Dylan explained.

"I saw the fire in the eyes of the Harper now with Beka," Tyr reminded them. "I am not controlled by the Abyss."

"Fine, well maybe we need to consider a new possible threat, two Harpers, one we know to be possessed and one who now has the strength and speed of Rommie, with a touch of mad genius thrown into the mix," Dylan sounded worried.

"Wait," Trance insisted. "What is our plan here? Do we destroy, do we help or do we suspect them both?"

"Harper wanted to help, he wanted to rid himself of the Abyss," Andromeda stated.

"He's going to kill his biological body?" Tyr checked.

"It's already been killed by the Abyss, and it's currently with Beka, a friend of his," Andromeda explained with conviction. "I can assure you that even though he now has android form, the Harper I helped is the genuine article, I promise."

Dylan took some needed deep breaths. "Ok, we have proof that the Harper inside the human body has shown very real signs of possession by the Abyss," Dylan considered. "And we need to see evidence of this android version's intentions before we act; I'm just not sure we'll have time."

"I'm not sure I could let anything, not even Harper himself, destroy himself," Rommie tried to explain.

"We do of course have another problem," Tyr idly remarked. "Pretty soon Beka's going to be greeted by another version of Harper."

"We should get down there, before it gets too messy," Dylan agreed and began to move.

* * *

Harper was still getting use to his new form, but unlike with the implants he was quickly adapting, quicker than he thought possible. It was like having a new lease of life, those little aches and pains he had lived with all his life were no more, and he was able to run without missing a beat, and now he ran and he didn't feel any burning in lungs he no longer possessed. For the first time in his life he was able to exceed his limitations, he was no longer weak or unfit, he was now strong and he felt the strength within him.

Reaching his quarters, Harper stopped and checked the gun he carried, he hardly noticed the weight but he was aware it wasn't a small weapon, he meant business. Then he remembered his mission and his humanity that remained sent doubt and fear through him, no longer a reaction but an after thought.

"I have to do this," Harper said to himself quietly, before activating the door to open just by pressing his hand to the pad and connecting to the mainframe to over ride the privacy lock.

Harper waited for the doors to move back and heard his own voice questioning the intrusion; it stunned him for a moment before he caught himself and moved forward.

"What the hell?" Beka stepped forward, her confusion clear. "Harper?" she looked between both Harper's open mouthed.

"Beka, I know this must be weird but you have to trust me," Harper began, wanting to explain about his transformation to android form.

"It's a trick," his biological form looked terrified and for a moment Harper saw himself in his true form, there was no Abyss inside him.

"I'm sorry," Harper spoke up, arming his weapon and knowing the fear his physical self was feeling. "You know I have to do this."

His other self showed real terror in his eyes, and was beginning to nod his head but all too quickly a change came over his biological body, and a fire lit up in his own eyes. It was enough for Harper to take aim but he had forgotten about Beka who suddenly put herself between the two Harpers, not seeing the slight smile Harper could now see from his own human face staring back at him behind Beka.

"Beka, you have to move away, please," Harper pleaded, fearing for her now. "It's not safe, that's not me!"

"I'm real Beka," his human form moved closer to Beka, and he took a knife from his belt and cut his own skin to show blood. "Tell that thing to do the same," his other self challenged.

"Beka, just listen to me and move away from him, I have to do this," Harper stressed, not wanting to play games or waste time.

"Whatever you are, there's no way I'm going to let you trick me," Beka stated to Harper, protecting his Abyss ravaged body.

"That's the Abyss, Beka!" Harper practically shouted. "He's killed me already, I don't exist in that body any more and if you don't step away you'll be next! Please let me destroy him, me, please," Harper aimed the weapon again with determination, seeing the red fire now glowing in his own human eyes out of Beka's sight.

"I don't know what you are, but I know this is Harper, my Harper," Beka stressed in full protective mode. "There is no way I'm going to let anybody, not even a fake like you threaten him, not now, never again!"

"Step aside, don't make me force you," Harper began to move forward, knowing he was now able to show the strength needed to carry out his threat. Seeing his own body possessed and taunting him now drove him forward, he had to protect Beka.

"I don't know what you are but there's no way, you want Harper, you got to go through me first," Beka stood her ground and raised her weapon but before she could react, Harper had moved quickly and he pushed Beka aside to give himself a clear shot on the Abyss who remained unarmed, ignoring the cry of shock from Beka he took just one shot without another thought.

The sound and motion seemed to slow down to slow motion as Harper saw the blast penetrate his human form, throwing his body back against the wall and for a moment he feared he'd made a mistake before the unmistakable meltdown of an Abyss possessed body began to disintegrate with the familiar scream. Harper had no chance to witness his human form become consumed by the dark matter of the Abyss as suddenly he was hit with several hard forces that made him stagger back, and the noise suddenly hit him as weapon fire before he fell heavily to the deck, losing co-ordination in a flurry of sparks.

Landing on his back, his head fell to the side to see Beka now sat in a heap on the floor grasping her hands with tears running down her cheeks, a smoking weapon lay on the deck across from her, having been shot out of her hands from the ship's self defence lasers.

"Harper?" Andromeda's voice sounded distant but concerned.

"I'm ok," Harper mumbled, but his eyes were fixed on Beka who was blankly staring at him. He couldn't move, but he felt no pain and with the limited movement he had, he looked at the black goo rapidly disappearing on the deck of his quarters but Beka was missing it as she just stared numbly at him.

"Beka, look," Harper managed, his voice breaking with another internal error.

"You're not real, you're just a machine, you're not real," Beka mumbled, her eyes fixed on his body where he still sparked on occasion.

"Just look!" Harper demanded, his eyes gesturing to where the last remnants of his biological body claimed by the Abyss disintegrated.

Numbly Beka followed Harper's eyes to the now empty space where Harper's human form had now disappeared into nothing.

"Harper?" Beka seemed to snap out of her trance, realising the body was missing. "Harper! Where are you?" she screamed with confusion.

"I'm right here," Harper stated, unable to do much more as he began to get a long list of damage reports that had occurred after seven small localised explosions around his android body, shots fired by Beka before Andromeda had stopped her.

Harper then felt the nuzzle of a weapon against the side of his head, and he moved his eyes to the side to see Beka standing over him now, pressing her reclaimed weapon to his temple. "What the hell are you?" Beka demanded. "You're not human, what the hell did you do to my friend you murdering bastard! I should just shoot you now!"

"I'm Harper!" Harper stressed.

"Harper is human, he bleeds, he feels pain you do neither," Beka vented and was about to hit the trigger when the doors suddenly opened and Dylan rushed in, surveying the scene quickly.

"Beka move away, let us deal with this, where's Harper?" Dylan checked himself. "The other Harper?"

With some shock in her expression Beka moved and flustered, as she glanced away. "He was here, he was shot by this thing, I incapacitated it, but I don't know where he went," she looked close to tears. "He's dead, I think, vaporised I don't know," Beka then added as her face crumpled with emotions.

Trance was quickly by her side. "It's ok, Beka, its ok," Trance assured her and brought Beka close into a hug. "Dylan, the threat has passed, the Abyss has gone."

Dylan looked down to where Rommie was surveying the android that resembled their crew member, Harper. "How is he?"

"In need of urgent repair," Rommie glanced up to her captain.

"I am Harper," Harper managed before powering down.

"That's not Harper," Beka yelled, and began shaking her head. "Tell me that's not Harper!" Beka continued to yell when no one spoke. "Where is Harper's body, his real body?" she demanded. "What the hell just happened?"

"Beka," Trance made sure Beka was looking at her before she continued, and she saw the pain in the blond captain's eyes now filled with tears. "Harper had been possessed by the Abyss."

"No," Beka remained defiant, and shook her head in denial.

"His body is gone, it was taken over and now it's been destroyed," Trance continued through Beka's denial.

"No," Beka wailed almost. "Harper's not dead, he's not, he can't be," she fought the tears as they fell down her face and felt Trance hold her close as her emotions took over, and she began sobbing uncontrollably into Trance's shoulder.

"Take her to her quarters, maybe give her a sedative," Dylan quietly suggested and Trance simply nodded her head to agree, as she gently encouraged the shaken Beka to walk with her.

"He saved us from the Abyss," Tyr now observed moving forward looking at the android form of Harper lifeless on the floor, gently prodding it with his the toe of his boot.

"I want this body fixed, and brought back online," Dylan ordered towards Rommie. "Is that possible?"

"Yes and this body is Seamus Harper, at least what remains of him," Rommie pointed out. "Andromeda followed all procedures to ensure she did not put us or Harper at risk, I have now checked and I believe this is the Seamus Harper we know."

"I'll be the judge of that," Dylan simply implied without emotion, and looked at Tyr. "I want you to perform a full security sweep on all our systems. I don't want any trace of the Abyss remaining on board and include that android form in your sweep," he ordered and left the room.

Rommie waited a moment, seeing the Captain leave the room and looked at Tyr. "This is Seamus Harper, everything checks out," she stated.

"Then I suggest you get to work bringing him online so the boy can explain himself to us," Tyr simply observed, as he walked away to fulfil his orders.

TBC


	47. Chapter 47

Part 47

Trance smiled warmly as Beka looked up, before using both hands to bring a mug of warm tea to her mouth. Her mind was a flurry of confusion, as she remembered more and more about the incidents that had occurred before she had been encouraged to sleep.

"You gave me a sedative," Beka huskily spoke.

"You were in shock."

"I don't like stimulants, I would have slept of my own accord eventually," Beka dismissed.

"You were hysterical."

"A friend I have known for over five years was shot in front of me, and I couldn't save him, what do you expect?" Beka harshly returned, slightly shaking as she struggled to put the mug down without dropping it.

"Harper was possessed by the Abyss, he was already dying long before that final shot claimed him," Trance took care with her words. "That was not Seamus Harper, not anymore."

"And that other thing?" Beka asked bitterly without looking up.

"Is Seamus Harper."

Beka began shaking her head. "It's a machine, a murdering machine, and that could never be Seamus Harper."

"He did it to save you, and to save himself," Trance softly answered.

"I saw what it was, Trance, it wasn't real it was just some thing that acted and sounded like Harper but he killed a man in cold blood!" Beka stormed, as she got to her feet and paced the room.

"Do you think the same of Rommie?" Trance enquired. "Is she just a thing that kills in cold blood, she too has killed people."

"It's not the same," Beka easily dismissed. "Harper was human, he knows what humanity is all about, he is not a warship like Rommie, his instincts are not the same but that thing, his instincts were just to kill."

"Beka, we have run tests and security sweeps and we have no doubts on the evidence and facts that Seamus Harper, with the help of Andromeda, is now an android," Trance revealed and saw the momentary shock in Beka's expression.

"It's a mistake," Beka shook her head, before pacing again. "That thing is not Harper, he's tricking you!"

"There are no more tests he can pass to confirm what we see," Trance defended. "Harper has moved his consciousness into that of an android body."

"It's not possible," Beka continued to disbelieve the claims.

Trance stood up and forced Beka to stop pacing. "He might not be human any longer, but the implants made the transition to full android possible, Seamus Harper is alive and well."

"But I know what I saw," Beka stressed. "I saw him kill Harper, how can he be Harper and be capable of that?"

"He destroyed an Abyss controlled body, that contained just the bare bones of Seamus Harper that we know and trust," Trance explained.

"It was Harper, why aren't you listening to me?" Beka yelled with frustration. "I spent a couple of hours with him before he was killed, and it was Harper, you think I wouldn't be able to tell the difference?" Beka stated, slowly losing her calm.

Trance took a moment before speaking. "Harper was consumed by the Abyss roughly an hour before his body was destroyed, the consciousness that existed before then within Harper was just a basic copy of the complete consciousness that had been stored, unknown to us at the time, inside Andromeda's mainframe for safe keeping," Trance explained with care. "Beka, Harper knew the Abyss had taken him, and he was not going to let the Abyss take us all, he did what he could to save us all, doesn't that sound more like Seamus Harper than the one you were talking to?"

Beka notably relaxed and closed her eyes for a moment. "He kept asking me to trust him, and that he didn't trust the others, he wanted me to assure him that I wouldn't abandon him," Beka remembered sadly, as she moved away from Trance. "He was paranoid, afraid and desperate for me to help him, he sounded needy and like a child in need of someone to protect him and I promised him I would, I promised."

"That was the Abyss manipulating your loyalty to Harper, and it almost worked," Trance offered.

"I would have done everything I could have to save him, but," Beka paused and struggled to contain her emotions. "That thing stopped me, took me by surprise and I had no time before that shot was fired, he just shot Harper without giving me a chance to stop him!" she stressed through fresh tears. "It was so fast, so cold and precise; Harper was just taken from me!"

"Because Harper, the real Harper, knew you so well, he knew it was the only way he could save you from himself, and make sure you didn't get physically hurt in the process, or risk his mission to stop himself," Trance spoke with understanding.

"His face was so cold," Beka mumbled as she remembered the moment she saw the android take the one shot that killed her friend.

"Harper took no pleasure in destroying his own body, in admitting defeat of something that is so valuable to him, to the Abyss," Trance noted. "He didn't want to fight or hurt you, as much as he didn't want to sacrifice his humanity completely, but he had to make a choice and he chose to save us over his own humanity, his own body."

"I'm sorry, Trance, but to me the Seamus Harper I knew is dead and nothing will change that, I know what I saw," Beka remained defiant. "But if you all insist on believing that thing is Harper then I can't stay, I won't stay."

"I'm sure the captain will understand, I understand," Trance offered. "We're all having to adjust."

Beka watched as Trance accepted her decision without a fight, and proceeded to head towards the exit. "Trance, wait," Beka spoke up. "I want to see it, the machine; I need to see it with my own eyes."

"Does that mean you may change your mind?" Trance asked hopefully.

Beka shook her head to indicate it wouldn't. "I just need to see it."

* * *

"How does that feel?"

"Tickles," Harper couldn't help the grin. "Andromeda, are you sure that's still part of the treatment?"

"It's necessary to ensure your relays are all functioning along the correct pathways," Andromeda scolded.

"Just happens to feel amazing, right?" Harper smirked, as he felt more of his core programming being manipulated by Andromeda.

"Your senses and reactions are still sensitive and confused," Andromeda offered with some awe. "This is just what a basic diagnostic feels like."

"No wonder you never complained when I suggested you needed one," Harper raised his eyebrows. "You little minx," he added playfully.

"Harper, behave, or I'll return you to your android form only half fixed," Andromeda warned, with a hint of a smile.

"Was I hurt badly?" Harper then ventured.

"You were damaged, not hurt, you're an android now, Harper," Andromeda corrected.

"How is this really possible?" Harper queried. "I mean I knew it was possible, I'd seen the implants but I was human and now I'm this," Harper seemed concerned, as he checked all the data flows running around him, his own programming.

Andromeda looked at him with care. "You're basically a mismatch of technologies somehow made possible from an organic base using the slight electronic pulses that use to exist within your own body, those signals have been boosted to carry more information and using technology only the Perseids can explain, the bridge between organic and technology has finally been made," she explained with some pride. "So, you're classified as an Android now, so no more whining about being hurt, it's technically impossible now," she smirked.

"Androids still hurt, I've seen hurt in Rommie's eyes before," Harper idly responded.

"I wouldn't know about that," Andromeda responded distantly, as she continued to analyse Harper's program.

"Hey," Harper picked up on a vibe he hadn't seen before. "I was just saying it's possible, and I remember you were hurt during the Magog attack; remember when your hull was punctured?"

"That was an inconvenience," Andromeda dismissed.

"I heard about that other crew, the one you couldn't save," Harper pushed. "That caused you to act like you did that day, because you had been hurt previously by what you had seen."

"Hurt is a human emotion, I was simply trying not to repeat mistakes," Andromeda lightly argued.

"So you have no means of emotion, nothing? No feelings and no ability to express yourself other than in warfare?" Harper seemed down beat with the conclusion. "And you only protected me out of some form of algorithm in your core program, not because you like me?"

"I don't understand."

"When Beka started shooting at me, you activated the self defence to stop her didn't you? You saved me, saved my android form that couldn't have taken another hit without the risk of an explosion," Harper stated. "We both know that, so why did you do it?"

Andromeda stopped and moved away, leaving Harper standing alone. "My avatar has emotions, I feel them but I don't experience them, my skin is not like Rommie's, it's the metallic hull of a warship, my body is feared and can resist most things, I am cold and built for space travel, what you see here is just an acceptable human visual form you can interact with."

Harper looked away for a moment before responding. "When I first lay eyes on you in space it was love at first sight, Andromeda, don't put yourself down," he spoke sincerely and moved closer. "I've lost my humanity, I'm now just a collection of data that can be transferred between here and some vessel that resembles my old human form so the crew will still accept me, at least that's my hope," he shrugged. "We're the same now, you and me, Rommie; we're a collection of data streams that need to adapt how we look to be accepted. Let me see the real you, not the projection, not the avatar, not the hologram, the real Andromeda."

Andromeda considered his request and then before his eyes transformed into a series of data streams around him, light flickered and surrounded him and Harper closed his eyes as his own image disintegrated and mixed with the data of Andromeda, a more vibrant colour with a faster stream. In a blink of an eye Andromeda's projected form materialised with Harper and they both looked at each other for a moment, resuming their identities.

"Wow, you're even more beautiful," Harper offered in wonder.

"I have never," Andromeda paused before collecting her thoughts. "You're fixed, you should return," she promptly spoke, looking away.

"Andromeda wait!" Harper tried to stop but he felt himself being returned and opened his eyes to the machine shop where his android body was being physically repaired by Rommie.

"Has she thrown you out for bad behaviour?" Rommie knowingly asked but Harper couldn't speak and only briefly smiled. "Keep working on her, she just needs to get use to it."

"Use to what?" Harper asked confused, finally finding his voice.

"Finally being able to love somebody who can understand her, see her for what she truly is," Rommie smiled warmly. "You've always been out of reach to her, but not anymore."

"You mean all this time?" Harper spluttered.

"Why do you think I kept knocking you back, never move in on your sister's guy," Rommie grinned now. Harper looked away slightly embarrassed but with a sense of intrigue. "Well it's not perfect yet, we need to pick up some new components but you're fixed, you might find some restrictions in movement but nothing that will stop you from doing everyday things."

Harper sat up and checked his upper torso, no longer seeing any entry wounds and his body had never looked better. The scars of his mortal body were now gone, and in its place a body that could easily withstand seven rounds of a weapon. Harper flexed his hands and once again began to feel at home in his new body, no longer feeling like it was wrong.

"If you ever want to talk about this," Rommie offered, as she took his hand. "Any of the things you're experiencing right now."

"I'll need someone who understands," Harper nodded his head, only feeling Rommie's touch through a series of coded signals. "This was never going to be easy, but it was the only choice I had, but it doesn't mean I won't miss what I lost."

"I know, you've helped me so much to understand what it means to be human, it's now my turn to help you understand what it means to be android," Rommie seemed excited by the role reversal. "Dylan still wants to see you, when you feel ready to face him."

"I know," Harper nodded his head, knowing he couldn't hide in the machine shop for ever. "Is Beka ok?"

"She's slowly coming round, your actions sent her into severe state of shock, she needs time," Rommie explained with care.

"I didn't want it to be like that, I didn't want her to see what I had to do," Harper rapidly explained.

"We've discussed this, I know," Rommie assured him. "But you know Beka would never have left your side."

"It's changed now though, I saw her looking at me," Harper seemed haunted now. "She doesn't accept me, doesn't want to accept me."

"Give her time," Rommie insisted. "She's asked to see you."

"She has?" Harper was quick to look at Rommie who nodded her head. "When, where?"

"Trance is waiting for an appropriate time," Rommie explained. "We want to make sure you are fit and in working order, and that Beka is mentally stable to at least give you a chance."

"We're talking months, possibly years then." Harper frowned.

"It will be more like hours," Rommie corrected. "Dylan does not want to lose his CO and will do what has to be done to give you the best chance to convince her of who you are."

"Lose her?" Harper picked up. "Beka has asked to leave?"

"Not asked, told us," Rommie admitted.

"No," Harper shook his head. "If anyone should leave it should be me, not Beka, I'll leave if I have to, I caused this so I should fix it."

"No one is being told or asked to leave, not if Dylan can help it, and that's why you should go and see him, in case he changes his mind," Rommie warned.

"I'll see him, today, as soon as," Harper suddenly became animated.

"Harper," Rommie spoke evenly to get his attention and he turned to face her, as he did so Rommie seemed troubled. "Are you sure you're ready for this?"

"Ready for what?"

"Your new life, new existence," Rommie asked. "Like this," she gestured to him.

Harper seemed caught out as he tried to consider it. "Do I have a choice?"

"Not exactly, but being android is not the same as being human," Rommie returned and moved closer to Harper.

"I do get that," Harper responded, showing a confident air.

"Do you?" Rommie questioned. "Emotion, reactions, instincts will all be different, you will not 'feel' what the other person is feeling, you will not react it he same way you use to, your responses will be calculated not fluke," she continued. "And your abilities, physically, will be vastly different, your strength and co-ordination."

Harper closed his eyes before opening them to look at Rommie with all seriousness. "I know," he simply said. "I'll be able to look after myself in a fight, do things I've never been able to do before and I'll be able to kick serious butt, I don't see the problem."

"You need control," Rommie stated.

Harper glanced away with her words, a flash of anger before he quickly composed himself. "I'm not a kid."

"In android terms, you are, and you need to be responsible with your actions," Rommie stated.

"Ok," Harper conceded reluctantly. "What do you suggest?"

"Ask Tyr to help you, ask Dylan and Trance, and Beka."

"What?"

"Harper, when you were human the crew protected you, looked out for you and if you no longer need their help, you may find it harder for them to feel comfortable around you, being what you are now," Rommie advised. "It's what I had to do, to fit it, make them see I needed them."

"Oh," Harper looked up and realised Rommie's underlying advice. "Well I do need them, you're right, I'm still me and fully capable of finding trouble in the strangest places," he offered quickly. "Of course I still need them."

"So don't forget to ask," Rommie smiled and leaned forward to kiss Harper lightly on the forehead.

"Watch it, don't want internal defences kicking off again," Harper joked.

"She understands that I need you too," Rommie moved back. "I'm glad you found a way to save yourself, even if the manner in which you did it wasn't exactly protocol," she added. "It's worked out pretty good for me, and her," she raised her eyebrows suggestively and saw Harper slightly blush.

"Would it have been one of my plans if it had followed protocol?" Harper questioned and Rommie could only frown in agreement.

"Trance wants you to meet with Beka in an hour, think about what you can do and say to win her back," Rommie advised. "I'm needed on the command."

"Is Dylan there?"

"He is," Rommie answered.

"I'm coming with you then, I need to speak to him," Harper decided and they both left the machine shop.

TBC


	48. Chapter 48

Part 48

Dylan tried not to stare as Harper and Rommie walked onto command. He looked exactly the same, same hair, same clothes and same eyes, even that pale complexion remained but Dylan had to look beyond that and understand that everything had changed. Harper was no longer human, he was no longer weak or at risk from infection, he was android now.

"Mr Harper, glad you could join us and that you are fixed," Dylan chose his words wisely, seeing the flash of surprise in Harper's expression to using the correct term, even though it felt wrong. "Walk with me."

Harper duly got into step, unusually quiet for the engineer that Dylan wanted to believe was still a member of his crew, still the same cocky character he had grown use to.

"Give me something," Dylan ordered once they were clear of command.

"Like what?" Harper asked confused.

"I need you to give me something, a clue a sign anything that will convince me that I can trust you," Dylan stated.

"And if I don't will you shoot me again?" Harper asked in a tone that made Dylan stop, not realising Harper's words could physically hurt him like that.

"Excuse me?" Dylan checked.

"Well, the last time you didn't trust me, you shot me, you and Tyr, so just wondering," he paused. "Hey, it's a fair question," Harper defended himself on seeing Dylan's expression, sounding more like himself.

Dylan wanted to be angry but this was typical Harper he conceded, the voice and the wit had survived the transfer, the manner in which he could say the most inappropriate thing but say it so you can only smile at him.

"Ok, fair point," Dylan conceded, knowing just from the expression his engineer wore that he meant no malice, and they both began to walk again.

"Look I know this is outside the box, but it's worse for me, ok?" Harper now took control of the discussion. "I'm no longer human, I've lost all those little hang ups I had but I promise, Dylan, I'm not all that different and yeah, it's going to take me time to adjust to this as much as you need to as well."

"You now have the strength and ability of Rommie," Dylan reminded him.

"That may be true, but you do know I've never attended a karate class in my life right? It's not like we had classes in the slums on Earth," he frowned. "I may have the potential to do that stuff but seriously Dylan when have I had the chance to learn those moves, you don't just get a download and suddenly I'm a grand master," Harper explained, then frowned. "Ok, maybe there is a download but I don't want to fight on automatic and," Harper seemed to pause as if remembering something. "I was wondering if you would maybe teach me some stuff, the old fashioned way, now I have the ability and potential to put it to use?"

"Seriously?" Dylan checked and couldn't find the smirk he was expecting.

"Wouldn't it be an asset to have an extra kick ass android on your crew?" Harper suggested. "I was thinking Tyr, Trance, even Beka could help too, bring me up to my actual specs, and I mean I'll never be up to Rommie's standard but no use me remaining on my old standard if I'm now in an upgraded model, so to speak."

"I'll be happy to help you, as I'm sure the rest of the crew would too," Dylan brightened. "But I'm not convinced that you will need much help, but we can guide you, look after you."

"That's what I need," Harper smiled.

"It's going to be strange," Dylan then offered looking straight at Harper. "I've got so use to having to look out for you, keeping you away from illness or the bigger guys, now you'll be able to stand your ground, fight shoulder to shoulder."

"Not quite shoulder to shoulder, Andromeda decided not to fix my height issue, despite my plans," Harper rolled his eyes as Dylan smiled. "But you know, I'm still me and inside this thing I'm still the one who prefers to hide, to use my brain not my fists so you know, I'll still hide when the shit hits the fan," he joked.

"Only now when you get hit, you won't stay down," Dylan gestured to his body, referring to his recent run in with seven of Beka's bullets.

"Never stayed down before, only now I won't ever have to see the Med Deck again, see for me its silver linings all the way," Harper grinned.

"I spoke to the council," Dylan then announced. "They want to evaluate you, and have the Perseids check you over, just to give you the all clear."

"So I'm still not official crew member yet?" Harper realised.

"You will be, you've already convinced me just by this exchange that I have no reason to doubt who you are," Dylan stated confidently. "I trust you, Harper, I don't quite understand how we got here, but we're here and you're going no where."

"I didn't exactly have 'turn into android' on my life ambitions list you know," Harper sighed. "But I have nothing to hide, I'm just tired of this, and I just want things to resume as normal so I can get back to the important things in life, Andromeda," Harper stated tiredly. "You know before all this happened she was in the best working order of her life, you know the work I have to do now to get her back to that state. It's going to take months to get back to that."

"It will keep you out of trouble," Dylan offered with a smile. .

"Don't count on it," Harper added with a smirk.

"And there's a lot more to fix than Andromeda," Dylan suggested looking at Harper, and then sighed. "I can't ignore the fact Beka shot you, not just once but a few times."

"Seven," Harper stated. "She had her reasons, boss."

"She still shot you and well that's become something of a habit lately that I want to change," Dylan advised.

"Harper, Trance has asked if you could meet with her and Beka on the Observation Deck," Andromeda interrupted.

"On my way," Harper returned and then looked at Dylan. "I'll do what I can to fix this with Beka, and don't be too hard on her about that shooting thing,"

Dylan could only smile at the way Harper was dismissing Beka's actions, forever loyal to the blonde captain. "Please, do what you can," Dylan simply said. "Like you, I just want things to resume as they once were."

"Aye captain," Harper gestured enthusiastically with his hand and hurried away.

Dylan watched and then made the short walk back to Command, on arriving he noticed that Tyr had left. "Where's Tyr?"

Rommie turned and looked at Dylan. "He said he had some business to take care off, and he wouldn't be long."

"What kind of business?" Dylan asked, his senses snapping to alert, knowing Tyr's status on his crew was still under review and suspicion.

"He didn't say. Would you like me to track him?"

"Did you stop?" Dylan questioned.

"Of course not," Rommie corrected and checked her logs. "He's in corridor five nine two B."

"That's two away from the Observation Deck," Dylan realised. "Get me a visual, Harper is heading that way right now."

* * *

Harper had no warning or any idea why suddenly he found himself being pushed back with force and against the bulkhead, but soon he focused and found Tyr Anasazi with a hand around his throat.

"What?" Harper snapped, matching Tyr's strength but not pushing the larger man away.

"You have information I need," Tyr growled.

"Get off me!" Harper returned. "My neck is not the weakness it once was, you're doing nothing to me!"

"Why do you keep it from me?"

"Tyr, I will get round to you but right now I'm needed elsewhere," Harper explained with a bite in his voice. "Now is not the time."

"You do not decide when a good time is to share information!" Tyr stressed and attempted to push Harper against the bulkhead again to make his point.

"Wrong!" Harper stressed and instead pushed Tyr back, enough to make the Nietzschean stumble slightly before finding his balance. "I don't want to fight, but trust me Tyr, I will tell you, just not like this."

"You seem to think it's up to you," Tyr moved back towards Harper.

"Well considering I know the information, I think it is," Harper arrogantly returned. "And now I can protect it, I will, so don't push me, ok?"

* * *

Dylan stared intently at the screen, seeing a sudden new side to Harper and he glanced at Rommie. "Does this concern you?" he asked.

"No," Rommie returned.

"Why not?" Dylan was curious, seeing Harper standing up to Tyr was a little worrying.

"I know what information Harper is protecting," Rommie simply answered. "If anything this pleases me, he's continuing to protect it, convincing me that that is the Harper we have known as a human."

"But he standing up to Tyr," Dylan lightly argued. "Showing arrogance to his new found strength and ability, I'm not sure we should encourage this."

"Something he always wanted to do, but was too afraid to it he past because he was no match, and now he is," Rommie slowly turned to Dylan. "You can not fault Harper for finally having the confidence and ability to not be intimidated in situations like these when he has no reason to now. Tyr challenged him and he is just protecting himself, he has that right."

"You're right, I shouldn't judge or fault him," Dylan finally conceded and returned his attention to the screen.

* * *

Tyr sized Harper up, knowing just from his smell and stance that this was not the human he had grown fond of. This was a different prospect, a new threat and already Tyr had decided he knew too much and was challenging him to act.

"Do not threaten me, boy," Tyr now warned.

"Look, Tyr," Harper offered a defensive gesture. "One thing at a time, please just give me some more time."

"I am not waiting," Tyr decided and lunged forward, grabbing Harper firmly around his middle and throwing him hard against the bulkhead. Harper landed in a crumpled heap and looked up wearing a cocky smile.

"Still not telling," Harper responded with a grin, and Tyr grabbed him again, pushing him up against the bulkhead.

"You will speak, and I will not get tired of this," Tyr stated and when Harper remained quiet, Tyr brought his fist down hard across his cheek and then proceeded to attack.

"Tyr!" Trance yelled out, arriving with Beka and seeing the Nietzschean laying into the smaller being, who remained motionless on the deck.

Tyr seemed to gather his senses and stopped his attack, just as Dylan and Rommie arrived. They all took a moment to calm down, and Harper slowly sat up showing no signs of the attack.

"Tyr, with me," Dylan ordered. "We have things to discuss."

Rommie moved forward and gestured for Tyr to walk with her, and they slowly followed Dylan back to Command. Trance waited until they were out of sight before going to Harper's side and helping him the rest of the way up.

"Are you ok?" Trance checked. "Why didn't you defend yourself?"

"I'm fine," Harper offered, brushing himself down. "No harm done and I've never been able to say that after a run in with an uber before," he then said with surprise before he made eye contact with Beka. "Beka," he simply greeted.

Beka moved forward and looked at Harper. "No marks, nothing," she observed.

"He can't really hurt me anymore, and he just needed to vent some frustration and I can hardly blame him, I do know stuff that could help him," Harper offered awkwardly, under Beka's gaze.

"You may have fooled everyone else but I know what you really are," Beka then sneered. "The fact you're keeping information from Tyr proves that."

Harper tried not to react, but her words hit him hard. "Maybe the corridor is not the best place for this?" Harper then offered.

"Let's go to the Obs Deck," Trance agreed and gestured to Harper to go ahead, as she walked with Beka. On reaching the Observation Deck, Trance ordered the doors to be closed and watched as Beka and Harper stood opposite one another without word.

"You have to talk," Trance prompted towards Harper.

Harper nervously looked at Trance for reassurance before returning his attention to Beka. "Look, I'm sorry, things got messed up and I didn't want to hurt you," Harper then spoke. "And I'm not keeping things purposely from Tyr, I just need to figure out what I do have inside my head, what the Abyss dumped on me," he sighed.

"Don't talk to me like you know me," Beka responded. "As far as I'm concerned you're just a cold hearted killer who is now trying to deceive this crew into thinking you're someone you're not, I won't fall for your games."

Harper looked down and then moved away slightly, looking out to the stars. "When I was a kid I once told my ma that my ambition was to live forever," Harper remembered with a sad laugh. "My mum told me not to be so stupid, she didn't think I'd last to see my tenth birthday, well who's laughing now?" Harper turned back to Beka with serious expression. "Am I laughing?" Beka looked confused but didn't respond, before Harper continued. "For the first time in my life I feel alive yet ironically I couldn't be more dead, I don't breath and I don't feel, yet I'm more alive now that I ever have been in my life."

"Stop wasting your breath on me," Beka returned coldly, dismissing his words.

"I don't have breath to waste," Harper responded quickly and sharply. "You think this is easy for me? You think I did this to spite you? Beka, I don't want you hating me because if that's the case I might as well be dead, you might as well overload my power supply right now and end it right now, go on!" Harper demanded. "I'll even show you how," he stressed with the enthusiasm often reserved for his engineering projects, and in a flurry he ripped his shirt and then grabbed Beka's gun from its holster to quickly adjust the weapon settings.

All the while Beka numbly stared at him and even took the gun when Harper handed it back to her, now his work was complete on it. "Put the nuzzle up against my stomach and just pull the trigger, that's all you have to do, so do what you have to do to trust in me again."

"Harper," Trance edged forward with fear, knowing Beka was seriously contemplating Harper's request.

Harper jumped slightly on feeling the nuzzle touch his skin, and realised Beka was showing little emotion towards him, as he stared at her looking intently at the gun in her own hands. "It's all in place, just hit the trigger and I'll be gone for ever, you'll get your revenge for what I did, for what I will never forgive myself for, taking away my own humanity," his voice was calm and soft, almost encouraging her to fire.

Beka glanced up, and caught Harper's stare and for a moment they just looked at each other. Finally after some agonising seconds, Beka moved the gun away and Trance openly sighed in relief. Beka moved to the edge of the room and sat down, throwing her gun to the deck and she held her head in her hands. After a moment, Harper silently joined her and put his arm around her shoulders and she began to cry, as her head rested against him.

Trance saw her cue to leave and she quietly thanked Harper, before leaving them alone. "I'm sorry, Beka, for putting you through this," Harper whispered.

"That's really you isn't it?" Beka finally spoke and looked up, her eyes filled with tears as she looked at him.

"Afraid so, like a bad penny," Harper smiled. "Earth saying, I guess I still have some humanity inside me," he shrugged.

"What happened?"

"Abyss killed my mortal body, I was forced to find a new home, sounds almost familiar," Harper explained with a frown. "I guess I was weak, I ran away again when I should have stayed and at least fought him."

"No, you did the right thing," Beka conceded numbly.

"I should have told you what I was doing, I shouldn't have let the Abyss mess with your head using me like he did," Harper offered. "I hid away and just hoped things would sort themselves out, I was wrong."

"I keep thinking of Bobby," Beka moved out of Harper's hold and got to her feet. "I look at you and I remember the monster Bobby became, and I remember how you just shot Har-" Beka stopped herself, as tears threatened and her hands came up to her face.

"It was the only way, I couldn't draw it out, I just had to do what was necessary!" Harper protested.

"You didn't even give yourself a chance to fight back, you heard yourself, you heard your self speak," Beka yelled at him.

"I know!" Harper returned with desperation as he buried his head in his hands. "Don't you think I haven't heard what I said repeatedly in my head ever since?" Harper then offered looking up. "But I also saw the Abyss was hurting my body, I saw it consume me to take up the fight when my other conscious conceded defeat and I had no choice!"

"Now you're just trying to manipulate me, you're a machine, you're nothing! You're not Harper, do you hear me, you are not Harper!" Beka yelled with fury.

"No," Harper pleaded, looking at Beka. "I am Harper, I'm sorry, please don't do this, don't push me away!" he stressed.

"I can't do this, I'm not going to play your games," Beka murmured and moved towards the door.

"Beka, wait," Harper quickly got to his feet.

"You killed Harper," Beka turned sharply. "You killed my best friend and there's no way you can expect me to even give you the light of day, get out of my sight and don't ever, ever cross my path again. You are nothing but a cold hearted killing machine, so just get out of my sight!"

"I am Harper," Harper protested as Beka turned away. "Please," Harper pleaded following the blonde captain. "I need you to believe me, I am Harper!"

"No," Beka stopped and turned back to him. "You're a poor copy maybe, but you're not him, you'll never be him," Beka stressed with emotion before leaving the deck.

Harper spun around and for the first time missed his human reactions, knowing if he was a mortal he'd be close to tears but instead he just received a series of commands that made no sense as his world fell apart around him.

"Harper."

"She hates me."

"She doesn't understand," Andromeda offered from the screen.

Harper looked over to Andromeda, and saw her concern looking back at him from her artificial world. "What am I going to do?"

"Stay positive," Andromeda answered calmly. "And maybe help me with some diagnostics that need doing on the docking bays?"

Harper smirked and looked at Rommie. "You don't need me to complete those," he offered. "You don't need me at all," he added and looked away.

"But you need a friend, and I'd like the company," Andromeda suggested.

Harper looked back at her and attempted a smile, but it was clear he wasn't able to complete the task. "This was a mistake, I should have just accepted death and be done with it," he suddenly stated.

"Harper, no, what you did was right for you," Andromeda stressed.

"And crappy for everybody else, who am I to think or expect my friends to accept what I did? Beka is right, I am just a murderer, I killed myself in cold blood and now I expect them to just forget that because I've upgraded myself," Harper fumed, as he paced the Observation deck. "I want out, I don't want this, I don't want people to have to get use to me, to this," he gestured to himself.

"What will you do?" Andromeda calmly asked.

"First, I'm dumping this body, this is just too much," Harper stated and then looked at Rommie.

"There's room in my matrix for you, if you just need some time," Andromeda offered.

"I've only ever known living in a body," Harper seemed to hesitate and then looked at Andromeda fondly. "Maybe till I've worked this out, maybe I just need some time like you say, maybe I could get a different body one that won't make Beka hate me?" he shrugged.

"Go to the machine shop, I'll meet you there," Andromeda ordered and Harper nodded his head.

TBC


	49. Chapter 49

Part 49

Dylan purposely waited until Tyr had noticeably calmed down before speaking. "So, do you care to explain yourself? You are still a guest on this ship and I do not appreciate you attacking other guests."

"That thing is not who you think it is," Tyr simply said undeterred.

"That 'thing' is Harper and he's the same as me," Rommie butted in. "Don't judge him on his appearance."

"Yes he is now machine; he is not the human we once knew!" Tyr returned angrily.

"I don't believe this," Rommie moved away clearly troubled. "Dylan that is Seamus Harper inside that android frame, and we can't let this treatment continue!"

"I can handle this," Dylan calmly answered, gesturing to Rommie to back off before he turned back to Tyr. "Now Harper clearly said he would assist you but he has other concerns right this minute, he may be android but he still has human instincts and he wants to help Beka."

"My son is missing, and I have no idea where he is but that thing does," Tyr slowly explained.

"I appreciate that," Dylan countered with consideration. "But we're dealing with Harper and human or not, he's never liked to be pushed around so why do you think things would be different now?"

Tyr closed his eyes for a moment. "I just want the information he has."

"You can't handle the information he has!" Rommie snapped. "And barely can Harper but he has no choice, so you give him the time he needs to make sense of it, and protect it, and he will get back to you."

"And how can you be so sure I have the time to wait?" Tyr threw back.

"If Harper was in any doubt about your son's safety he would have acted by now, Tyr, Harper is not all that different, he still has compassion," Rommie stated.

Tyr just shook his head and smirked. "You can not claim to know Harper as he is now, just because he has become like you," Tyr stated.

"It's exactly because he has become more like me that I am so certain," Rommie stressed. "In a matter of days Harper has handled becoming an android in a way no one else could have ever coped, it's something you just could never understand because you do not possess the intellect or strength to make such a sacrifice," Rommie blasted.

"Ok, enough!" Dylan demanded. "Rommie, I'm sure you're needed elsewhere."

"Not a truer word said, what Tyr left behind, Beka has now kicked even harder," Rommie cryptically spoke. "Thanks to you, and Beka," Rommie gestured to Tyr. "We could very well lose Harper if this treatment continues, and for good this time with no turning back and if that happens then you'll never get the information you want, so well done!"

Dylan waited until Rommie had left command and then sighed. "Well I've never seen Rommie so angry."

"Machines do not get angry," Tyr dismissed, holding his head down as he rested against the console, his long braids shielding his face.

"Then she's doing a great job of acting angry," Dylan returned. "Tyr, we have seen so many wonderfully weird things on this journey, yet the notion that Harper could transform into an android is something you can not accept, I don't get that."

"I'm not the only one, and for Beka it is worse, she witnessed his act of murder and yet you seem to forget that thing killed the very man you claim to be protecting, supporting," Tyr argued.

"Because I bothered to listen and understand the proven evidence," Dylan stressed. "Harper had long surrendered his body, leaving just a copy of his consciousness inside, just listen to the facts and it all makes sense!"

"When I spoke to Harper I suspected that he knew more about my son, but he was afraid," Tyr began with purpose. "That thing that has taken his place had the information and Harper was scared to try and take it from him, are you understanding that?"

"He wasn't scared, only confused," Dylan corrected firmly. "He was just the bare bones of the real Harper, and he didn't remember fully what he knew but he had enough presence to 'want' to help," Dylan explained. "All you saw was a ghost of Harper. Tyr if this is your way of dealing with what you see as the death of a friend, then don't do this to yourself because Harper is still alive if you just give him a chance."

Tyr looked away. "You have a far greater problem in convincing Beka of the facts as you see them," he stated, ignoring Dylan's words.

"Don't change the focus of this discussion," Dylan responded, moving closer. "We both have to do something that we should have done in the very beginning, before this mess, we have to trust Harper." Tyr considered Dylan's request. "Otherwise, I'm going to have to ask you to leave, and I can promise you that you will never get so much as within a mile of Seamus Harper again."

Tyr stood up straight and glared at Dylan, but he saw the stony determination in the older mans face and knew to take his words seriously. "I will give the boy three days to talk, and then I must warn you that it's very likely we could become enemies once again."

"Three days is reasonable," Dylan conceded. "And let's hope Harper is able to figure out what he needs to do in that time."

"I will accept that thing to be Harper during this time, but I swear if he does not tell me where I might find my son, I will show none of the compassion for the Harper I once knew in order to find out what I need to know," Tyr warned.

Dylan stared at Tyr until the Nietzschean turned and left command, and then sighed heavily, gathering his thoughts. "Stupid gas," he muttered before resuming his place on command, checking the ship's read outs at his console.

* * *

"I can't let you do this," Rommie stressed just before Harper reached the machine shop.

"Rommie, what?" Harper asked with confusion, just yards from the entrance where Rommie had suddenly appeared from behind the alcove to stop him in his tracks.

"I overheard your discussion with my sister," Rommie admitted. "Harper, don't give up."

"You must have heard Beka too," Harper simply said and made to move past Rommie, but she blocked his path. "Rommie, no one on board is ready for this, they would prefer I was dead because then it's easier, being inside this body is just a sham and I'm hurting important people because of it."

"Beka just needs time."

"Bull shit, she needs me out of her fricking life so she can mourn the real me, the one I killed in front of her!" Harper yelled.

"You are the real you," Rommie stressed. "Beka is suffering, there's no doubt about that but don't give up on her, or on us, we all need you."

"I'm not giving up on her, I'm trying to fix things and make things right," Harper stressed.

Rommie looked at him. "You've hardly given yourself a chance, right before you saw Beka you were full of enthusiasm for your new life, don't lose that focus," Rommie insisted. "Beka had no right to open fire on you, Harper, losing yourself to Andromeda's mainframe is not the solution, you deserve life and you deserve that body, so don't torture yourself because she can't see the real you behind the mechanics."

"Look," Harper offered uneasily. "I need time too, and Andromeda has provided a sanctuary to let me get my own thoughts around this and at the same time it takes me out of people's way, out of their range."

"Beka and Tyr will come around and understand what you have done, and they will understand and respect that, I'm certain of this," Rommie insisted. "Please don't dismiss what you are, what I am," she emphasised the last part.

"Well I'm not, Rommie, and I'm not ashamed or dismissing this," Harper gestured to himself. "But I'd rather give it the best chance it has to work than stomp around demanding they get use to me like this and getting rejected," Harper offered with a heavy sigh. "Out of sight, out of mind, maybe they'll realise how this works or maybe I'll realise it hasn't got a hope in hell of working, but I can't do that while trying to avoid certain crew members and while I'm still not officially back on the crew, in the eyes of the Commonwealth, I'm taking some days away to get my head in order, ok?" Harper stated firmly.

"Ok," Rommie conceded. "I will store your body somewhere safe."

"Thanks, I'd hate to think what some would do to it if I'm not around to protect it," Harper shrugged. "I still remember the last time Beka found my body when I wasn't home," he shuddered with the memory and then looked sad, remembering her words.

"Beka will come around," Rommie encouraged warmly.

Harper nodded his head, but didn't look convinced as he was allowed to pass Rommie and enter the machine shop, and she followed him in to assist with the transfer into her mainframe.

* * *

Trance moved slowly around Beka, seated on one of the crew bunks. She remained silently staring at the deck on board the Maru, as Trance edged closer to speak. "If you truly wanted to leave you would have done so by now," Trance simply said, realising Beka was seated on Harper's bunk.

"I can't stay."

"Because of Harper?"

"Am I the only one who realises he's dead?" Beka snapped, looking up at Trance.

"You're the only one who hasn't accepted he is still very much alive," Trance considered.

"That thing is not Harper," Beka stated evenly, avoiding eye contact.

"Why are you so afraid of Harper?" Trance then ventured.

"I'm not afraid," Beka snapped. "That thing killed Harper, and has got away with it."

Trance frowned and took a seat next to Beka on the bunk. "I remember the first time you introduced me to Harper," Trance fondly remembered. "This is Seamus Harper, you'll have to excuse his oddities it's just he's more at home talking to machines than actual people."

Beka took a deep breath. "And your point?"

"You were right," Trance answered and looked at Beka. "Only you omitted to mention how machines have never intentionally hurt him, rejected him or caused him torment to the extent that he would contemplate giving everything up if it made things better, because he knows no other way other than an off switch to make things stop."

Beka looked troubled as she adjusted her seated position. "Are you trying to tell me that Harper was always a machine?"

"I'm only saying that Harper has always understood machines better than he could biological beings," Trance answered with a shrug. "Beka, you broke through that mentality, you made Harper remember what it is to be human, to be a good loyal friend and now he feels like he has betrayed you and all of us by giving up his humanity."

"He has," Beka answered flatly. "I saw him kill Harper, the real Harper."

"The Abyss killed Harper, Beka!" Trance momentarily lost her cool, and closed her eyes for a second. "The Abyss is still out there and Harper has information that the Abyss stored inside his organic brain, but now Harper has it stored in a much better facility, his android body. Harper is protecting everybody by taking responsibility for this information, and he needs to protect it or else the Abyss will destroy us all."

"I don't care," Beka dismissed.

"If the Abyss suspects that you are a weakness in Harper's armour he will abuse it," Trance warned.

"He can try," Beka snarled.

"He wouldn't have to try very hard, I can feel your hatred for Harper from here and it doesn't suit you," Trance stated.

"I don't hate Harper, I just hate that thing," Beka returned.

"They are the same and unless you can accept this, then you will only destroy Harper further, possibly give the Abyss exactly what he wants," Trance stressed.

"Don't, Trance," Beka stood up abruptly. "Don't make me, force me to accept that thing pretending to be Harper by using my fear of the Abyss."

"I don't have to, you already know," Trance spoke knowingly.

Beka looked away and then sighed. "I look at that thing and all I remember is what happened to Bobby, and I don't want to see the same thing happen to Harper."

"So you think rejecting him and pushing him away will prevent that happening?" Trance asked innocently.

"It's not Harper, not anymore, no machine could replace him," Beka dismissed.

"Are you saying that Rommie is incapable of friendship, of being a friend to you?" Trance spoke with care.

"No," Beka answered almost immediately and then closed her eyes. "Why don't you just come out and say it, tell me I'm being an ass and be done with it."

"I wouldn't ever say that," Trance returned.

"Doesn't stop you thinking it," Beka sighed and turned around, away from Trance. "So you say all evidence suggests that the android is actually Harper?"

"Yes."

Beka looked upwards, clearly troubled. "So what you're also saying is I shot my best friend seven times?"

"Yes," Trance nodded. "But he forgives you, I'm sure."

Beka smirked. "Then it must be Harper, he's the only idiot who would forgive me that," she frowned and then moved back to sit next to Trance, putting her head in her hands as she leaned forward. "Why does Harper do this to me?"

"He does it to everyone," Trance comforted, as she placed an arm around Beka.

"Turning into an android?" Beka scoffed. "What the hell was he thinking, did he seriously think it through?"

"He had little time to think or discuss it with anybody, the Abyss was already inside him, if anything his instincts saved him from a very horrible end," Trance offered softly.

"So I should be happy?" Beka snapped and then collected herself with a sigh. "I'm sorry," she gestured to Trance for her reaction and was silent for a moment before she was composed enough to speak. "I was protecting Harper when the Abyss came onto that ship, if anything I let this happen, I let the Abyss get to him."

"There is very little you can do to stop the Abyss," Trance countered softly.

Beka looked down. "I could have done more, I could have made sure we weren't captured, that we didn't get ourselves into that position," she stressed.

"Beka," Trance spoke firmly. "Harper needs you now, and dwelling over the past will not help him now."

"He doesn't need me anymore," Beka dismissed and moved away.

"He needs us all," Trance followed her. "What has happened isn't something he could have ever prepared for, he's a machine now, an android, can you even begin to imagine what that must feel like, to give up all that he knew to become an android?"

Beka considered Trance's words. "Must be scary," she frowned. "I haven't helped, have I?"

"There's still time, he's not gone anywhere and I don't think he's planning to," Trance shrugged.

"I shot him," Beka nervously laughed, but there was no smile in her expression, as she tiredly walked around the crew quarters considering her actions. "Once again I chose to hurt Harper rather than help or believe him," she gestured.

"He's pretty thick skinned now, and all he wants is your support, he never asks for more," Trance considered.

"Ok," Beka conceded. "I'll try, but I can't just banish what I saw, it's going to take time."

"Harper will make time for you," Trance partly smiled and saw Beka finally smile.

"Let me freshen up and then we can go and find him, and once again I'll apologise and hopefully everything will be fine," Beka suggested and her features brightened slightly. "Thanks for knocking some sense into me," she offered before she disappeared leaving Trance to feel some accomplishment.

* * *

"You'll be safe here."

It felt familiar and calm, as Harper allowed his programming to stretch out amongst the expanse of Andromeda's matrix in an area she had specially cleared for him.

"Still feels weird to be able to do this," Harper admitted. "I mean I'm not really here, am I?"

"You're here, Harper," Andromeda assured him.

"All I am now is a collection of data signals, a set of commands and protocols," Harper returned. "I have no emotion, no feelings and no sense of anything, everything I do now is routine."

"Don't think like that, Harper, you are still many things beyond simple programming," Andromeda returned.

"I think I've made a mistake," Harper offered, his voice broke slightly.

Andromeda's presence moved closer as Harper began to feel the edges of her programming making contact with his own. "I think you've followed a path that was inevitable," Andromeda admitted.

"I can feel you," Harper answered with distraction, sensing more of Andromeda programming as it interfaced directly with the edges of his code.

"You feel yet have no feelings?" Andromeda questioned, and Harper for a moment wished he could see her expression but neither of them were in human form, instead they were in their true form, as their own core programs within the matrix.

"Andromeda, I don't think we should do this," Harper hesitated as he felt her larger mass of code surround him. "Please, I need some space."

"Harper, I'm trying to help you, you need to understand how important you are to me," Andromeda stressed. "I want to protect you, its part of my core being, I am a warship and I will protect you, from everything."

"Sweet, real sweet but can you give me some room?" Harper asked. "I'm starting to lose track of where I end and you begin."

"There is no end or beginning, we are both the same now, we are part of one matrix," Andromeda corrected.

Harper could feel his own consciousness merging with Andromeda and he was powerless to stop it. "This isn't what I want, I need to keep my own identity."

"No, this is what you need, you need to be a part of me just as my avatar also shares my conscious," Andromeda stated.

"No!" Harper blocked one of several pathways, effectively shoving a piece of Andromeda's code away from his own to make a small stand against her. "I need to keep my own identity, I can't become you, and I'm not ready for this. Please, just give me some space and time," he stressed trying to pull himself away.

Almost immediately Harper felt Andromeda's presence release him and he was left inside his own area, a separate program, a sub-routine of the matrix.

"Andromeda?" Harper ventured when he could no longer sense her.

"What?"

"Are you mad at me? Did I just do something akin to brushing you off? Because I'm sorry but that was kinda full on, even for me," Harper offered shakily.

"I thought you needed to embrace, and feel a part of something that I could offer you," Andromeda explained with cold confusion.

"And maybe that's what I'll decide but I need to think this through and decide in my own time," Harper explained with care. "Right now, I'm not even sure if I want to be like this, if I want to be at all."

"Don't speak like that," Andromeda returned angrily.

Harper considered her reaction and gathered his code tighter around himself. "Can't get it right out there, can't get it right in here," he remarked with a bitter edge to his thoughts as Andromeda heard them. "This was such a mistake."

"No, Harper, I'm sorry I misjudged what you needed," Andromeda was quick to speak. "I guess I'm just so happy to have you like this, in a form I can finally embrace and get hold of that maybe I'm being a little over enthusiastic."

"Rommie says you're," Harper hesitated. "Says you like me."

"Of course I do, Harper, you're my engineer," Andromeda responded making Harper's eyebrows rise.

"How can you make that sound so," Harper paused, and Andromeda spoke up before he could complete his words.

"So it sounds like we're together romantically?" she guessed, in a tone that would have normally made Harper blush a little, had he still had a body.

"Yeah, like that," Harper found himself relaxing slightly.

"I'm a warship, and I need an engineer I can trust to keep me running, to ensure I have the capabilities to protect myself, tell me how that isn't like a human need for commitment and companionship," Andromeda returned.

Harper considered her words. "Yet, most engineers don't realise this, some can't even connect to their ships on any level."

"You were always different," Andromeda remembered. "You could interface, allow me to have the faintest of touches with you, and you seemed to understand me like no other before you," she sounded like she was smiling.

"Let me see you," Harper then asked, needing to see her familiar human form, and she materialised before him as Harper materialised his human form before her. "That's better, now I can relate a little better to this."

"Have I freaked you out?" Andromeda asked, as she stared into his eyes.

"A little," Harper shrugged. "You being a warship capable of destroying worlds, what the hell do you see in me?"

"Someone I can trust, someone who understands me," Andromeda returned, her eyes fixed on him. "Someone much like me now," she smiled. "Without the firepower of course."

Harper began shaking his head slightly, but he looked slightly amused. "This is all I've ever wanted to hear from you, you do realise that?"

"I have always wanted to embrace you, properly," Andromeda continued. "So many times my sister would walk away when I would just want to hold you tight."

"Still freaking me out, you're a freaking warship with desires to hug a little kludge when he's down, tell me that's not freaky," Harper remarked dryly, a little uncertain but with a smile. "I really do need some time on my own, I have so much to process," he offered.

"You should know both Tyr and Beka are looking for you, and Dylan has just found out from Rommie that you have escaped into my matrix," Andromeda simply answered.

"Tyr and Beka?" Harper questioned. "I'm in here to give them space," he stressed wearily.

"I told you they would come around," Andromeda answered.

"Rommie told me," Harper stopped and stared at Andromeda. "Now that's freaky, out there it's so easy to distinguish but in here like this," Harper paused.

"We're all one thing at the base of it and you could be too, we'd like you to join us," Andromeda stated, and appeared to be leaving but Harper moved forward.

"Wait," Harper offered abruptly, causing Andromeda to pause. He then reached out and embraced Andromeda's projection, and she slowly began to return the hug. "This is nice, I can't believe this is our first proper hug."

"You have only ever been a ghost to me before," Rommie spoke, her head resting on his projected shoulder.

Harper could feel the resistance, knowing Andromeda was following his wishes to back off and he found himself wondering what it would feel like to let go and allow Andromeda to consume him, to become a part of her. Quickly he pulled away and smiled. "Thanks for giving me this escape."

"You're always welcome here," Andromeda smiled, before disappearing.

Harper remained in his human projection, feeling more comfortable in that image and he sat down amongst his own code, with a lot to thing about and trying to figure out what had just happened.

tbc


	50. Chapter 50

howdies, just to say this story has now been completed my end, so all my writing is done :) thank you so much for following this story, means so much to me - all your comments are very very appreciated. Only two parts to go!

* * *

Part 50

"What do you mean he's in storage?" Beka stated angrily.

Holo-Rommie shrugged. "He is taking extended leave inside my matrix," she crossed her arms and slightly flickered. "His body has been secured so it can come to no harm in his absence."

"Can you at least tell him we wish to speak to him?" Dylan asked with a sigh.

"He is aware of your request," Holo Rommie revealed and then disappeared out of sight.

Beka turned to Dylan. "Is it me, or is Andromeda acting like she owns Harper now?"

"Technically she does," Tyr offered casually. "The boy is now a part of her, at least while he's fully inside her matrix."

"He's not anybody's property, he's still a sentient being in his own right," Beka fumed.

"He gave up his rights as an organic," Tyr observed and Beka glared at him, before her face softened.

"How have we managed to mess this up so badly?" Beka sighed loudly.

"By not trusting Harper," Trance spoke up and then felt all stares upon her. "Just an observation."

"I have another observation," Tyr then announced with urgency. "Six Nietzschean fighters have just exited slipstream, heading this way, Sabra-Jaguar pride," Tyr stated and immediately the crew took their positions.

"Open hailing frequencies," Dylan ordered. "This is Captain Dylan Hunt-" he began but was cut off as six hits hammered into the hull. "OK, pleasantries over, return fire defensive missiles tubes three to fifteen, standard procedure," Dylan ordered, glancing at Tyr who nodded his head.

Moments passed before another volley of fire hit the Andromeda. "Shields down to fifty percent, and that last attack has taken out decks nine through to twelve on the port side," Andromeda relayed.

* * *

Harper worked quickly to re-distribute power to the shields and weapons, having snapped to alert just prior to the first hits, sensitive suddenly to the sensors of the Andromeda. Focused on the job in hand he mentally flinched as another hit shook Andromeda to its core, but he was thankful that shields held and he continued to frantically realign the relays to the emergency systems.

He sensed through Andromeda's systems more missiles and in a split second he realised they were targeted to hit an area close to where he was stored on the matrix. In that final second he suffered an intense feeling of power surge through him before everything became confused.

* * *

"We have lost power to engineering sections six to eight," Andromeda revealed.

"Evasive action, fire what we have across all their bows!" Dylan barked and they all watched with some satisfaction as the third of the fighters erupted into a ball of flames before them. Seconds later the remaining ships slipstreamed away and the Andromeda was left alone.

"They have found out about Harper," Tyr remarked calmly.

"How?" Dylan asked.

"The Abyss has agents all over," Trance shrugged. "They have had time to start the rumours and malicious gossip about the information the 'human' Harper holds."

"The Abyss must also know that he killed the human known as Harper!" Tyr returned.

"Then it is not Harper they are targeting," Beka remarked with a frown. "Seems they had the right target all along."

"The Abyss wants his information back, he's assuming that Harper downloaded," Dylan looked tired suddenly.

"We can't take many more surprise attacks like that," Trance observed, checking the reports that were coming in.

Tyr glanced at Dylan. "That won't be the last."

Rommie moved forward. "The Sabra-Jaguar tribe want Tyr's son and the bones, that is the information the Abyss is telling them, Harper is but the bait and this ship is the target," she stated glancing at Tyr.

"If the boy would just tell me I could find my son then we could go into hiding, but I would first let it be known that I am reunited with my son and that Harper and this ship is of no use to any of them," Tyr declared.

"We may have a problem," Andromeda spoke up from the screen.

"Harper," Rommie suddenly spoke, as she turned to her own image on screen.

"What?" Beka asked, glancing between the two.

"During the attack we lost parts of engineering," Andromeda began.

"Harper was located in the engineering sections during the battle, trying to use his sub-routines to speed up and assist my own built in repair programs," Rommie finished.

"What are you telling us?" Tyr demanded.

"Harper is currently offline," Rommie offered uneasily.

"You're kidding me," Beka gasped.

"I wouldn't kid about that," Rommie returned stony faced.

* * *

Andromeda looked concerned as she appeared on the view screen in machine shop two. Trance and Beka stood with Rommie as they stared at the lifeless android body of Seamus Harper.

"I have downloaded what I have so far retrieved, but there's more I need to recover, I'm just not sure what I'm looking for or how important it is," Andromeda revealed and Rommie moved forward.

"All of it is important," Rommie idly spoke as she deftly activated Harper's android form. "Harper?"

"Ow," Harper offered and then opened his eyes, blinking them a few times with confusion.

"Harper, do you know where you are?" Rommie asked.

"I don't know," Harper returned and Beka shared worried glances between Trance and Dylan, while Tyr looked on without reaction.

"Do you know your name?" Rommie prompted.

"Harper," he answered to the relief of those around him, a small mercy. He closed his eyes and seemed to be processing something. "Can't move."

"Mobility commands," Rommie simply said and Andromeda nodded her head from the view screen. "Anything else not working?"

"What happened?" Harper asked.

"We were attacked and we lost some of our systems temporarily, I've fixed you as best I can with what we've retrieved so far but it could be a slow process recovering your full working matrix," Rommie advised. "But nothing was destroyed, just scrambled."

"Ok," Harper offered. "Why is Beka staring at me?" Harper gestured to the blonde captain.

"She, and everyone else, they are concerned for you," Rommie spoke with softness.

Beka moved forward when Harper appeared confused. "I'm sorry I've been an idiot, I just," she paused. "I don't know why I do this, why I can't just trust you."

"Because I always mess up," Harper answered with a frown.

"But you don't, I mess up," Beka assured him. "You needed me and once again I'm only thinking about myself. I promise I will help you, no matter what."

"I'll be fine, just needing a bit of repair," Harper half grinned, still looking a little nervously at Beka.

Beka smirked. "Now you sound like the Maru, and you know how hopeless I am about her, maybe you two should hook up?"

"I think someone else would take exception to that," Harper offered, and his eyes moved to the screen where Andromeda turned away, apparently processing data.

"She hasn't," Beka almost whispered with astonishment, and then looked at Rommie who seemed agitated.

"Hey nothing to do with me," Rommie defended.

"So come on, what's gone on?" Beka was eager to learn.

"Nothing," Harper dismissed now, remembering how full on Andromeda had been with him, and now Beka's enthusiasm brought back other memories he'd rather forget but his memories were refusing to let them go.

Beka backed away sensing a shift in Harper's comfort levels. "Well if you're ok then I'll return to my shift on command," Beka offered.

"Do you truly accept me like this?" Harper asked suddenly, before Beka could leave.

Beka hesitated with the directness of the question. "I will, in time," she awkwardly smiled before leaving.

Trance moved beside Harper and brushed his hair back with her hand with fondness. "Time is a good healer," she offered. "You know where I am, where all of us are if you need us, on this ship," she stated and then moved away.

Rommie smiled as she looked at Harper. "You survived your first system crash," she offered.

"I like the lack of pain and discomfort," Harper sighed. "Not sure I like the incomplete and lack of functions bit," he added.

"Try to move now, we've recovered your mobility commands," Andromeda spoke and suddenly Harper felt his body again.

"That feels good," Harper declared and sat up. "Recovery time is a vast improvement on my previous model," he acknowledged, as he flexed his hands.

"Harper," Rommie spoke with concern in her voice now. "We nearly lost your core programming during that battle, we should consider deploying a back up system for you, in case," Rommie prompted.

"No," Harper dismissed, and jumped off the table where they had been repairing him. "I'm not like you, and I don't want a back up of me somewhere else, it's not right."

"You are like me now and it's just a standard procedure for beings like us," Rommie protested, but she wasn't surprised that Harper objected. "I realise you're new to this but if you are damaged again we need the fail safe."

"No," Harper snapped, and turned to Rommie. "Once I'm gone I'm gone, I'm still human despite my mechanics," he stressed. "Rommie," he spoke with a calmer air now seeing her distressed reaction to his words. "We back you up because you keep this thing, this ship running and without you it wouldn't function but with me," he was interrupted.

"You keep this ship running to, you're as important," Rommie stated, as Andromeda silently looked on.

"I'm just an engineer," Harper answered calmly. "You can find engineers to replace me but ships can not function without their avatar, and please just let me keep some of who I really am, give me that to hold on to, let me keep my mortality," Harper requested with passion.

Rommie closed her eyes and then opened them. "OK, but we should keep a back up of the information the Abyss downloaded into you separate from you, in my matrix."

"No," Harper disagreed. "That last attack was due to this stupid information, it should stay with me, its too dangerous to copy and risk falling into the wrong hands so just the one copy."

"Harper, it's too valuable to keep in one place," Rommie protested.

"I felt what you felt," Harper stressed. "I've never been that close to battle but I felt every hit you took and there's no way I'm going to ask you to keep taking those hits, we got lucky."

"So what will you do with it?"

Harper glanced away, and began to move. "I'm going to talk to Tyr, and then work to take away the importance of this information by finding his son, and then finding the engine of creation, if we can find these two things we can then," Harper paused mid-flow.

"That's a stupid plan," Rommie offered.

"What else can I do? The Abyss has it in for me, that whole attack was because of me!" he snapped angrily.

"You could ask the crew what they think you should do, you're not alone and they want to help," Rommie reminded him, as she moved beside him and took his hand into her own.

"Can I trust them to trust me?" Harper asked.

"Why don't we find out, together?" Rommie suggested and Harper finally agreed with a brief nod of his head, and they both left the machine shop.

* * *

Tyr sat back and rubbed his face with his hands, to clear his troubled mind. Reports were all over the subspace frequencies about the news of one human kludge having all the answers they seek, the means to take power absolute once and for all.

Slamming his hands down on the desk, Tyr attempted to calm his more natural instincts. His son, his beloved son was the one who would unite the tribes but right now there was chaos instead of order and Tyr knew he had to do something or his son would lose out on his birthright. Not knowing the information that the human, the machine he corrected himself, knew was worrying him. Tyr was in no doubt that Harper could tell him the location of his son, where they were hiding, but he knew there was more. The fear in the boy's eyes confirmed there was more and he couldn't help his more natural urges that wanted to know.

Harper was now the key to his own success and yet a part of him doubted that the information would ever be given to him. The Abyss concerned him, why did the Abyss have information that he himself did not know, how had he allowed the Abyss to manipulate him with Tabatha, how had love blinded him and led him to fail his son, to allow this situation to happen?

Getting to his feet Tyr suddenly felt a surge of urgency. "Ship, locate Trance and locate Harper!" he ordered.

"Trance is on command, and Harper is heading in that direction to," Andromeda revealed.

Tyr acknowledged the response and quickly left his quarters to join them on command.

* * *

Harper remained silent as Rommie and Dylan spoke about the progress reports on repairs, the ship had taken quite a battering and for the first time he had felt it first hand so didn't interfere as Rommie explained all to Dylan.

"Ignoring me now?"

Harper spun around and found Beka by his side, and he couldn't hide his unease for a moment before he spoke. "No, just a little distracted."

To his surprise Beka reached out and embraced him warmly, holding him for a while before finally letting him go. "I'm sorry," she offered.

"Don't be," Harper returned, but his voice lacked its usual energy.

"You feel the same," Beka remarked and saw his confusion. "I mean I thought you'd be cold now, or harder," she saw his reaction and quickly continued. "I mean to the touch, like hugging a refrigerator," she offered and then saw Harper's even more confused expression.

"Maybe because you're not hugging a refrigerator?" Harper suggested, still clearly confused and possibly a little upset.

"I mean," Beka attempted to continue.

"I know what you mean," Harper interrupted. "I find it hard to believe I'm not real, you know, not human," he shrugged and sighed.

"You are real," Beka slightly smiled. "Maybe its something we both have to get use to?"

"Yeah," Harper agreed and then glanced over to the entrance on command seeing Tyr enter, and it seemed with a purpose.

"I want answers!" Tyr stormed, looking at Harper.

"Tyr we had an arrangement," Dylan stepped forward, blocking Tyr's path to Harper.

"I wish the boy no harm, but we need to act now!" Tyr was undeterred.

"That's why I'm here, right now," Harper spoke up. "We need a plan, we need to work together, trust each other and make what's inside my head less important."

"We need to destroy the Abyss," Trance spoke up from her console.

Everyone stared at Trance, before Harper continued. "Well I was more thinking we just use his information for good, not bad," he shrugged.

"Destroying the Abyss is for good," Tyr supported Trance's notion.

"Destroy the Abyss?" Dylan questioned. "Any idea how?" he asked with interest, but clearly not convinced such a plan existed.

"I might know how," Harper spoke up and found the attention swing to him.

"You do?" Beka asked, moving closer to his side for support. "So spill?"

"You have to trust me, and I'm not sure you can," Harper moved away and found some space to himself.

"We trust you Harper," Dylan confirmed.

"Of course we do and if you can help us destroy the Abyss then you have to trust us," Trance insisted.

Harper composed his thoughts before he spoke. "All of us here right now, we are the biggest threat to the Abyss, its right here inside my head," Harper explained. "He purposely worked to split us up and he gave me this information to seal our fates, I should be dead not just once but twice already because of this."

"I was supposed to kill you," Tyr realised.

"Not you directly," Harper shrugged, ignoring the shocked expressions to Tyr's confession. "Taking me away from here to work and live among my biggest enemy was supposed to kill me, with Tabatha's encouragement."

"Tabatha being possessed by the Abyss," Dylan remembered and Tyr closed his eyes for a moment with regret.

"Are you saying that the Abyss planned all of this? That gas leak, that incident that led you to leave?" Beka asked.

"No," Trance spoke up. "He was just waiting for an opportunity to find a chink in our armour and that presented him with one."

"None of that matters now, what does matter is that we can't trust anyone until we can be sure the Abyss is no longer influencing this universe," Harper stressed. "And just as much as he found a chink in our armour, we've found one in his, he trusted me to be the vessel to store all the information he needed to destroy this universe but he didn't count of me ever being able make sense of it all, or to be in a position to protect it, he never counted on my abilities to upgrade," Harper stated with some pride.

"So why would he take such a risk?" Tyr asked.

"Because regardless of all that, the information I hold is too much for one person to ever make use of alone, I'm no risk to him like this," Harper frowned. "So, I was just going to sit on it, protect it and if the time ever came where I could maybe use one small part of it then I would," he shrugged. "But I realise I would be destroyed, or this ship would be destroyed long before I ever got that opportunity."

"The Abyss is now using the information against you, people are going to try and take that information by force and destroy anything it their path," Tyr correctly guessed.

"Including us," Rommie noted.

"So what can we do?" Beka showed her confusion.

"Work together, and trust what I say," Harper offered.

"Tell me what I want to know and we have a deal," Tyr simply answered.

"I will tell Dylan where your son is, and then Dylan will go with Trance to bring him back here to safety," Harper stated.

"Here? This ship is not safe while you are here!" Tyr stressed.

"You have to trust me," Harper returned with force.

"I will go and we will bring Tyr's son back," Dylan confirmed and Trance moved to Dylan's side in agreement.

"Tyr," Harper caught the Nietzschean's attention. "You will go with Beka on a separate mission, but just as important."

"What kind of mission?" Beka asked when Tyr appeared to be at odds with the plan.

"I need you both to retrieve the engine of creation," Harper revealed and suddenly Tyr was alert to Harper's words.

"It exists?" Tyr questioned.

"If you trust my word," Harper offered. "Myself and Rommie will remain here, we need to plan our impending confrontation with the Abyss on your return, both the engine and the boy will be crucial to our success."

"My son is not able to fight, he is but a baby," Tyr protested.

"He is the one," Harper simply answered, his back now to Tyr as he activated the console closest to him. "Dylan, take this chip and load it into one of the slip fighters, it will take you to where uber junior resides, they have a ship that you will be able to escort them back in. I have included detailed plans on how you can fix their ship so it will make the journey back."

"That's why they've not been able to contact me," Tyr spoke up.

"Their ship made an emergency landing, and damaged its communications and slipstream drive on re-entry into a planets atmosphere," Harper answered. "But don't worry, no one was hurt."

"How do you know this?" Dylan asked, taking the chip from Harper.

"I know too much, and the Abyss put too much trust in me," Harper offered with a frown. "Beka, this is the information you'll need to locate the engine."

"You serious?" Beka checked, taking the chip from Harper and turning it over in her hand.

"I know what it means to you, it's why I want you to find it and claim it, but you must bring it back here," Harper instructed and he glanced at Tyr. "Look after her."

"And then what?" Beka asked, missing the small nod Tyr gave to Harper to acknowledge his orders.

"Once we're done it's all yours," Harper smiled. "The Maru is ready to depart when you are."

"Sounds like a deal, Tyr let's go," Beka ordered and along with Dylan and Trance, Beka and Tyr left command.

"So why do I get to stay here?" Rommie asked, sounding a little disappointed. "Surely I would be better serving on one of the missions."

"To help me," Harper answered.

"I get the feeling you already know how to destroy the Abyss, you don't need my help there, it's all inside your head, right?" Rommie determined.

"Right," Harper agreed, and then grasped the console he stood before, losing his balance suddenly. "But by sharing the information I just have with Dylan and Beka, the Abyss is having the final laugh," he winced.

"Harper?" Rommie realised her friend was in trouble.

"Make sure I finish these plans before," Harper paused.

"Before what?"

"Before the virus wipes me out," Harper managed.

"What virus?" Rommie demanded.

"I guess the Abyss needed a failsafe to protect the information, I predicted this though, I'm smart, he underestimated me and it's why I wanted you here with me, help me," Harper stressed, as he continued to key in the orders to the console despite rapidly losing cohesion.

Rommie needed no further orders and she moved behind Harper pulling him upright and supporting his weight as she encouraged him to lean back against her. Her hands moved around him and made contact with Harper's temples.

"The virus is strong," Rommie figured.

"Protect yourself at all costs," Harper murmured as he continued to work at the console.

"I can fight this," Rommie stressed and closed her eyes, her forehead resting against the back of Harper's head.

"That's it Rommie," Harper briefly smiled, sensing her inside his matrix taking up the fight against the virus. "I'm almost done," he stated, as his fingers worked quickly over the consoles panel.

Suddenly both androids froze, before Harper collapsed into Rommie's hold. "Harper!" Rommie yelled, still holding onto him, her hands pressing into his temples as she continued the fight. "He's just offline," she repeated to herself. "Simple trick, anyone can do that, it's your turn next," she raged towards the virus that was consuming her friend.

"Rommie," Andromeda spoke up from the screen. "Protect yourself at all costs."

Rommie opened her eyes and looked up at her own image from the screen. "No," she began to fight harder.

"You heard what Harper said," Andromeda insisted.

"I can beat this," Rommie insisted.

"It's already too late, the damage is done," Andromeda relayed.

"I can't give up on him," Rommie stressed, refusing to let Harper go. "He still has to finish the plan," she explained.

"Check the console," Andromeda suggested.

To Rommie's dismay she saw that Harper's workings were complete, with her help in delaying the virus he had managed to complete his work. "So did he shut down or did the virus consume him?" she numbly asked towards the screen.

"Uncertain," Andromeda answered looking at the sleeping form in her sister's arms.

"He wouldn't go so easily," Rommie shook her head. "Would he?"

"Past experience suggests no," Andromeda offered. "But I am receiving no signals from his body, no idle processes."

Rommie moved Harper down to the deck. "Reboot, that's all he needs," she stated and moved her hand to Harper's neck and closed her eyes. In a blink of an eye Harper's body jerked and his eyes opened. "Harper?"

"Let me go," Harper managed, as his android head rolled.

"I can't."

"I," Harper paused, his movements sluggish. "Virus," he jerked slightly until his eyes settled on Rommie. "Kill the bastard that did this to me."

Rommie numbly nodded her head to agree before she brought Harper forward into an embrace and hugged him tightly, feeling his body power down for a final time.

TBC


	51. Chapter 51

Part 51

"Dylan," Beka spoke up over the subspace channel. "How'd it go your end?"

The communications crackled to life. "Easy, in and out, we have Tyr's son and guardian on board, and the repairs worked like clockwork."

"That's sound the same as our mission," Beka returned, glancing at Tyr who was hanging onto Dylan's every word. "We have the engine, no trouble, no trouble at all," she then sighed.

Tyr caught onto Beka's sentiment. "I was expecting a trap, the Abyss must have guessed Harper would go after these things," Tyr stated.

"Maybe this whole thing is a trap, a false sense of security," Dylan suggested over the comms. "Continue to show extreme caution, just in case."

"How long till you arrive back on Andromeda?" Beka asked.

"Roughly three hours," Dylan answered.

"We'll be there before you, so we'll make sure Harper has kept the place tidy," Beka smiled and closed connections.

"You're still worried that it was too easy," Tyr observed.

"All my life I've been looking for that damn engine and now its handed to me on a plate?" Beka scoffed. "Something isn't right about this, there is no conceivable reason I can think of as to why the engine was practically just sitting there waiting for us, without so much as a fire fight."

"I have to agree, it was all too easy," Tyr frowned.

"At least your son is with Dylan," Beka smiled.

"I fear more for him now than ever before," Tyr offered, avoiding eye contact with the blonde captain.

"Why would the Abyss not move or further protect the very things he must have guessed Harper would go looking for, with that information?" Beka asked.

"Maybe the Abyss believed he had succeeded in killing Harper, or maybe he felt secure in the knowledge that Harper didn't trust us enough with the information, and that he would never share it?" Tyr offered as reasons but didn't seem convinced by either of them.

"Well I hope Harper knows what to do with these things, now we have the engine and the boy," Beka remarked. "I just don't like this one bit."

"Maybe he does, maybe that's where we have failed," Tyr suddenly moved forward.

"Tyr what's wrong?" Beka asked, sensing a concern in the Nietzschean.

"On their own we have no idea how to use these things Harper sent us to retrieve, they are useless to us, but somehow together Harper knows how they can destroy the Abyss," Tyr explained. "And only Harper knows, so what is the true target here that the Abyss has to stop? The engine, the boy or Harper?"

"If he thinks Harper is already dead," Beka offered, missing the Nietzschean's point before slowly realising something. "Then the engine and the boy are useless to him and us, so no wonder they were so easy to recover," she guessed but sensed she was missing Tyr's concern. "What is it?" she prompted.

"These objects, these things are no threat to the Abyss on their own you're right, that is why we found it so easy to complete our missions," Tyr attempted to make sense. "But neither of us has checked in with Harper or the Andromeda since we've both been successful with our missions."

"How can you know Dylan hasn't?" Beka asked.

"If he had, we would know already," Tyr returned with frustration.

"Know what?" Beka demanded.

"Whether Harper is still able to complete this mission."

Beka stared at Tyr with some confusion. "He wasn't on a mission, we left him on the Andromeda safe and sound, and with Rommie there to protect him."

"Andromeda, report," Tyr barked.

"Tyr, I'm sorry, I have some bad news to relay," Andromeda's voice returned, and Tyr threw a look to Beka that spoke a thousand words, as Beka closed her eyes and tried to hold her emotions in check, they didn't have to be told that something bad had happened.

* * *

The Andromeda corridor seemed longer than ever as Tyr moved quickly to meet the returning captain. His eyes however were only fixed on the child being carried by the older woman he had entrusted to care for his son. They finally met and Tyr wasted no time in taking his son from his guardian and holding him tight.

"Tyr, I need a report," Dylan broke through the moment.

Tyr took a deep breath, savouring the feeling of protectiveness as he continued to hold his son. Gathering his thoughts he turned to Dylan. "Harper is down, no life-signs that Andromeda can determine but we have instructions that we need to follow, with Trance's help," he glanced at the golden alien beside Dylan.

"I should have stayed here," Trance offered sadly.

"Harper judged Rommie to be his best chance, and by all accounts she managed to fight the virus off so he could complete his mission," Tyr recounted.

"Let's not give up on Harper too soon," Dylan suggested. "We have work to do, Tyr, I'm sure Olma can take care of Tamerlane."

"My son is part of the plan, Harper was not being romantic in wishing me to be reunited with my son," Tyr stated and turned to head back to command.

"Tyr," Olma called out, the older lady was confused as Tyr turned back. "He is but a baby, a boy, how can he help?"

"He is the one, as you well realise," Tyr stated confidently.

"It's finally happening," Trance now brightened. "We can challenge the Abyss, we are ready."

"Trance?" Dylan spun round to her. "How are we ready?"

"We have the things the Abyss needs to conquer this universe, and now he will fail so we have to strike now before it's too late, Harper knew this," Trance stressed, and glanced at Tamerlane in Tyr's arms. "The future, the present and the past all join together."

Dylan simply looked at the conviction in Trance's eyes and it was enough, as he gestured for them all to move forward.

* * *

The command deck was an odd mix of fear, excitement and anxiety. Beka remained by Harper's side, where he had fallen and lay lifeless and unmoving. The engine of creation was placed not far from her side, a long cylindrical piece of metal that carried ancient text and carved with simple decoration.

Tyr kept a close hold on his son, even as he worked at the console, with Olma staying by his side protectively looking out for his son. Dylan, Trance and Rommie read through the instructions Harper had prepared and they were about to make the final journey.

"Beka," Dylan spoke up. "We've keyed in the co-ordinates," he watched as she got to her feet and moved to the slipstream controls without word. Her face was expressionless, her emotions tucked away prepared to act on the final words Rommie had relayed to her from Harper.

With a blinding flash of light the ship lurched into slipstream and Tyr protectively shielded his son's head, as Beka battled the controls and expertly guided them. Inside she could hear Harper whooping and hollering for her to keep going, urging her on to complete this mission and she was going to do it for him. Then she saw it, the exit they needed and without missing a beat she brought the ship out of slipstream and they found themselves in a place that gave then no readings.

"Where are we?" Rommie asked. "I have no data."

"We are nowhere," Trance spoke up, seemingly relaxed. "Between time, we're in the Abyss's playground now."

"Is this a wise place to be, considering we have what he wants?" Dylan checked uneasily.

"The perfect place," Trance smiled and reassured them all.

"So now what?" Tyr asked impatiently.

"Past, present and future need to collide," Trance offered and gestured to Tyr to bring his son forward. "You son holds the future to the Nietzschean race, our universe as we know it rests in his hands and right now we need that strength to defeat the Abyss."

Tyr hesitantly handed his son to Trance who accepted him warmly, as she smiled down at the mesmerised young boy now in her arms. "Dylan," Trance then gestured. "You are our present, you have brought us to this point by finding yourself in our time quite by accident," she half smiled.

"I thought I'd be representing the past," Dylan shrugged.

"No, Dylan, you are very much our present," Trance simply said without further explanation. "I represent the past, time before time."

Dylan moved to her side and she put her arm around his waist and almost immediately the area around them began to take on a glow that seemed to originate from Trance. Moments later without warning a terrible screeching of red and yellow fire erupted on command and suddenly the Abyss was summoned and appeared to be in pain as he thrashed about not far from where Trance stood with Dylan and Tamerlane.

"Positive thoughts, Dylan!" Trance instructed as the noise levels rose to unbearable.

Beka, Tyr and Olma struggled not to be affected by the change is atmosphere around them, it felt electric and pained as gusts of air swirled around an environmentally controlled area. Trance's glow grew bigger and enveloped Dylan and Tamerlane so brightly that they could no longer be seen. In a panic Tyr moved around, but the globe of light was rapidly filling command and he could only watch as it consumed the Abyss, leaving the Nietzschean stunned as the dark force that had plagued their life for so long, was so easily over come and so effectively.

"Tamerlane!" he yelled with fear as he came to his senses, not knowing his sons fate but only seeing him trapped and out of reach.

"It's ok," Olma moved to his side and gently stroked Tyr's arm with comforting movements. "Your son will learn from this, will grow strong from this, this is the moment that confirms things beyond any doubt."

Tyr relaxed slightly with Olma's words and glanced over to where Beka and Rommie protectively stood by the body of Seamus Harper, and he felt an overwhelming feeling of loss that hit him suddenly. "I need to protect Harper," he numbly spoke and moved away from Olma, and she simply smiled.

Beka and Rommie seemed surprised by the urgency in Tyr, as he approached with purpose. "We should move him away from command, it's not safe here."

"No, he stays!" Beka barked back.

"The Abyss could still take him, his body still contains information, we can't assume this is over!" Tyr yelled. "The Abyss is on board this ship!" he pointed towards the light, as the noise and mayhem continued. "We owe it to Harper for bringing us to this point, but his part is done, we need to protect him now!" he stormed.

"Tyr, it's gone, it's all gone," Rommie spoke with sadness but her words were quickly dismissed as they all noticed the sudden drop in the gusts of air and turned to where the glowing light now slowly shrunk and the forms of Trance and Dylan could be seen again.

"Dylan?" Rommie moved forward as soon as the light was gone. They all looked tired and Tyr immediately went to Trance's side to retrieve his son from her arms.

"Trance?" Beka ventured when no other words were spoken.

"It's over," Trance spoke breathlessly, and then her smile appeared and she seemed like the child Beka had once known, back when she was purple. "It's over, the Abyss has been destroyed!" she spoke between breaths, looking every inch the excited child.

The sudden euphoria was surprising as they all released their fears and anxiety and shared embraces. Young Tamerlane no longer wanted to be held by his father and the youngster struggled to be allowed to roam the deck freely, and with pride Tyr set his toddler son on the deck, watching him part walk and part crawl around.

"You should be so proud of him," Olma spoke wisely. "He has saved the universe already and he's barely two years old."

"Your son has great strength," Trance agreed and Tyr was beaming with pride, as he watched his son become attracted to the engine of creation.

"Hey, Tyr, tell your kid hands off, that's my toy," Beka joked, catching where Tamerlane was heading.

Tyr moved to retrieve his son, suddenly aware of Harper again he scooped the kid up and moved his son to Harper's side. "This is Harper, he told me how to find you again," Tyr whispered, as his son playfully hit Harper's chest but then suddenly Tamerlane started screaming and Tyr quickly picked him up before the others saw him telling his son about Harper.

"He wants my toy again," Beka walked over seeing what Tamerlane was looking at through the tears. "I want my Harper," Beka frowned with genuine sadness. "That's the breaks kid, never get what you want," she sighed.

Dylan moved to Beka's side and put his arm around her shoulders, comforting her as her own tears threatened. "Rommie, are you sure there is nothing we can do for Harper?" Dylan asked.

"I can try," Rommie answered.

"We can attempt a download into my matrix but his body is destroyed, we would have to build from new," Andromeda spoke up from the screen.

"That's not what Harper wants," Rommie spoke up. "He told me he didn't want to just keep having a new body, he just wanted this one and once he was gone he wanted to remain gone," she stated and then caught herself. "I'm sorry, but he clearly stated that he didn't want to keep being brought back, he wanted to keep something of his humanity."

"We can discuss this later," Dylan suggested sensing emotions were high, and the kid was still crying. "Just let him touch the engine, Tyr, it might shut him up," he snapped and Trance moved to pick the engine of creation up. "Sorry Tyr, just never liked the sound of kid's screaming."

"Understandable," Tyr shrugged. "I never thought of child of mine would be so unruly."

"He's not usually like this," Olma fussed. "He's usually so content and peaceful."

"Trust Tyr's kid to only be annoying around us," Beka had to remark. "And over something that's mine, Harper wanted me to have that, so," Beka saw the stares she was receiving. "Ok, let the kid play but it's still mine," she stated firmly, seeing Trance put the engine on the deck as Tyr gently lowered his son down so he could play.

Dylan stared at Harper and was lost in his thoughts before he felt the need to say something. "After everything he's been through in life, all he has done for this sorry universe and he's taken from us by a computer virus."

"It was too strong, too complex for me to break in the short time I had," Rommie sighed.

"He must have known," Beka now spoke up. "I mean come on, this is Harper, he must have known there was a corrupt file amongst the data the Abyss gave him, he practically speaks and breathes data."

"So why did he continue, if he knew the risks?" Dylan asked.

"Maybe because you were a bad influence on him," Tyr remarked looking at Dylan.

"What I don't understand is why did he get me and Tyr to bring the engine back here, we never used it to destroy the Abyss," Beka then noted.

"He knew you always wanted it," Dylan suggested.

"No, he said it was mine once the mission was complete," Beka pointed out. "That means the mission is not complete."

"There are no further instructions," Rommie glanced at the console to check.

All eyes turned to Tamerlane who was playing with the engine by hitting it with his hand, and smiling. "We're missing something," Trance offered, kneeling down to look at the engine of creation but Tamerlane's protests when she tried to move it away stopped her getting a better look. Finally after a few attempts Trance was able to get a closer look as Tamerlane moved away, and his interest was suddenly in Harper's prone android body that he began to investigate, exploring the strange person on the floor.

"Tamerlane, come away from there," Olma began to protest and made to retrieve the boy but Tyr stopped her. "Tyr, we can't let Tamerlane," she began to protest but he stopped her.

"Look," Tyr gestured and everyone looked to where Tamerlane was hitting Harper's chest again. "He did that before and I dismissed it but isn't that a little strange?"

"The kid is just messing about, he's taking after his father in taking pleasure from hitting kludges," Beka dismissed.

"Wait," Trance spoke up. "Was this on before?"

"What?" Beka moved to Trance's side and saw the lights now lit up on the machine. "Those weren't on before, what has the kid done?"

Suddenly a bright light erupted from the engine causing Trance and Beka to stumble back in surprise and the light headed towards Tamerlane.

"Tamerlane!" Tyr yelled out but as the light hit his boy, Tamerlane just smiled and seemed completely at ease, as he continued hitting Harper's chest. They all stood in silence as the light flowed through Tamerlane and began to slowly embrace Harper.

Beka stared wide eyed as the light completely surrounded Harper, and she saw the kid with a smile that almost suggested he knew what he was doing, but he was barely two years old and she had to shake that feeling. A scream from Harper's body suddenly killed the light and the engine of creation went dead, as Tamerlane began to cry with fright, returning to a more recognisable toddler tantrum.

Olma rushed forward to retrieve Tamerlane and attempt to calm him down as everyone else watched Harper's body thrash about, and they heard him continue to cry out with anguish. Finally Beka found her senses and rushed to Harper's side, if nothing else he seemed very much alive and she realised that's all she wanted despite the frightening way he was acting.

"Harper, it's ok, we're here, it's ok," Beka stressed repeatedly as she tried to get him to stop thrashing about. Harper was out of control, his eyes rolled as his body continued to spasm and jerk about, moving like a fish out of water on the command deck. More screams followed, and Beka looked helplessly to Trance and Rommie for suggestions.

"His body may be malfunctioning after the virus, we should take him offline," Rommie suggested and both Dylan and Trance nodded their heads, eager to ease Harper's anguish.

"Problem," Andromeda spoke up from the screen and they saw Rommie's reaction as she stared at Harper still moving about rapidly, with Beka attempting to calm him down.

"Problem, what's the problem?" Dylan demanded.

"We can't take him offline," Andromeda revealed.

"Rommie what's wrong?" Trance could now see the android was speechless.

Beka was losing her battle with Harper in trying to calm him down as he continued to thrash about, and she couldn't help but believe he was in pain, but it seemed impossible with an android body. She then looked more closely and suddenly backed away in shock. "He's perspiring," Beka gasped, but her shock was replaced by concern when he started hitting his head hard against the deck. "No, Harper, stop that, I'm here, I'm not leaving you," she cradled his head to prevent him hurting himself before turning the Trance. "Med Deck, we need a sedative!"

"But he's not human," Trance protested.

"Actually he is," Rommie finally found her voice. "And we should act fast, his body is going into shock that could prove fatal if we do not act quickly."

Tyr needed no further instruction as he scooped the struggling human up in his arms and practically ran to Med Deck, with Beka and the others close behind. On Command Olma stayed with a calmer Tamerlane, and she kissed his forehead as the boy began to drift to sleep.

To be concluded...


	52. Chapter 52

And now the final part... thanks to everyone who has followed this story and read it right through to the end, it means a lot and I have appreciated everyones comments, and I really hope you have enjoyed the ride!

Sadly this will be my last epic fanfic as I'm going to start working solely on my original stuff in 2007, finally having the push to put energies usually reserved for fanfic into being more original - I hope one day you might come across some of that! (if I'm back here in six months you know it didn't go so well lol!! hehe)

thanks!!

Part 52

"Will he be ok?" Dylan asked as Beka came away from the cot where Trance was treating Harper.

"Health wise, probably," Beka frowned. "Mentally, we don't know, this is a lot to take in and then he's human again, completely," she glanced at his neck. "No mechanics at all, from one extreme to the other," she sighed.

"So long as he's still here," Dylan gestured but saw the flash of anger and frustration in Beka's features to his words.

"He was android, Dylan, I saw him destroy his own body, his human body that he gave up and I had only just accepted that and now suddenly he has one again, I mean what the hell is going on, what happened back there with Tyr's kid, that's not normal, none of this is normal!" Beka raged, losing her control.

"What did we all want, on command, once the Abyss had been destroyed?" Trance asked as she moved towards them showing concern for Beka, now satisfied that Harper was stable and sleeping.

"Harper to be ok?" Tyr asked as he leaned against the wall, with some awkwardness in his expression.

"The past, present and future joined forces to destroy the Abyss, but then we witnessed hope and a simple miracle save our universe," Trance smiled.

"A miracle?" Beka seemed doubtful.

"We all hoped for one, for Harper," Trance offered. "Maybe in different ways but essentially we were hoping for the same thing."

"But how did the kid do that?" Beka asked. "And don't tell me he's some sort of god, I don't buy it, I can just about buy that he is a genetic reincarnation of some long gone dead guy, but don't ask me to go so far as to believe he can perform miracles."

Dylan cleared his throat before speaking. "The engine of creation has been myth for so long, many doubted that what you brought to the Andromeda was the genuine article, after so many have failed to make it work," Dylan offered. "But we all saw it in action."

"My child was able to make it work, he is blessed and now you must all believe who he truly is," Tyr spoke up proudly. "Harper is with us now because of this."

Trance smiled at Tyr. "You can go now and believe Tamerlane indeed found a higher plain by which to activate the engine and bring Harper back to life and as a human back to his true born form," Trance suggested and paused before continuing. "Or you can believe that the engine of creation can only work outside of your universe, and we got lucky that Tamerlane was pressing the buttons at a time it could function and that he was so close to Harper when it activated, that his youth was able to channel the engines energy back in to Harper."

"So it wasn't Tamerlane, it was just lucky?" Beka checked with a show of relief, but Trance only smiled and returned to Harper's side.

"We were in a strange place, outside of our universe," Dylan agreed.

"My son controlled that beam and he directed it into Harper," Tyr protested.

"I don't know," Beka was torn, remembering the look on the kid's face when he was supposedly guiding the light. "It makes sense that it activated when it did, and Tamerlane was hitting all the buttons."

"I have a feeling this is a discussion we'll never truly find the answers to," Dylan suggested, seeing Trance glancing over and still smiling that smile he recognised as a 'not telling' gesture.

"Trance was by the machine too, just as it activated," Beka remembered.

"My son saved Harper," Tyr remained adamant before he left med deck.

"But it wouldn't be the first time Trance has found a way to save Harper against the odds," Beka countered after him, remembering the Magog eggs.

There was a sudden scream and both Dylan and Beka looked over to where Trance was now checking the restraints containing Harper, as he struggled on the cot very awake again.

"Harper!" Beka hurried over to his side and immediately saw more cohesion in her friend's face as his eyes met hers. "It's ok; I'm here, I'm right here, its ok."

Immediately Harper relaxed and took some deep breaths, his face caked in perspiration as he looked around wide eyed. "Hurts," he gasped.

"What hurts?" Beka asked anxiously.

"Everything," He stressed, and grimaced as his body tensed against the restraints.

"Trance, we need a stronger sedative," Beka ordered and turned back to Harper. "Just calm down and try to relax, we're going to help you, ok?" Harper nodded his head to her words. "You trust us right?" she checked.

"Always," he strained to speak before Trance administered the stronger sedative and he immediately relaxed into sleep.

"What is wrong with him, why is he in pain?" Beka asked desperately.

"His consciousness is confused, he was human then android and now he's human again, his reactions and responses are fighting, been forced into a confined space once again," Trance shrugged. "He can feel again, and maybe his consciousness quickly forgot the pains of being human," Trance suggested.

Beka just stared at Harper, seeing his chest rise and fall again was a sight that she couldn't explain but she felt an overwhelming sense of joy at. She reached out a hand and brushed the matted hair away from his brow, and she could only smile at Harper. "I have my Harper back, that's all that matters right now," she stated with passion.

"Take as long as you need," Dylan put a comforting hand on Beka's arm. "Get him back to his normal self, and then tell him he can report for duty as a member of this crew."

"But the Commonwealth," Beka began.

"Let me deal with the Commonwealth, I've seen enough a hundred times over to know they have nothing to worry about when it comes to Seamus Harper," Dylan stated, before leaving med deck.

Beka looked at Trance and showed her amusement. "Harper's gonna lap this up, freedom of the Commonwealth, I hate to think what he'll abuse first, Dylan is creating a whole new type of trouble for himself," she smiled.

"But a good happy trustworthy problem," Trance was quick to confirm.

"Yeah, now that sounds like the Harper I remember," Beka agreed.

* * *

Rommie was cautious as she was met by both hologram and the image of her self on command. "Ladies," Rommie greeted. "How are you feeling?"

"How are we feeling?" the hologram corrected. "None of us feel."

"Schematics," Rommie glared at her holo-self. "Harper is human once again."

"We know."

"That's not what I meant," Rommie stated with frustration. "Things were said and done while he was like us, that he probably will remember."

"You want to know how we will deal with this?"

"Of course, I mean," Rommie paused and looked at the screen. "You almost forced him to merge with you."

"I did not!" Andromeda protested.

"You did too," Rommie returned. "He won't forget the things you said, and how you responded to having him inside you, so to speak," Rommie looked uncertain.

"You feel I should feel embarrassment?" Andromeda questioned. "I can not feel such things."

"You, we," Rommie paused for a moment. "You must feel something, a loss, sadness, regret?" Rommie questioned.

"I have adapted to the new information and expect things to resume as they were," Andromeda offered.

"He has no data port," holo-Rommie revealed.

"Could cause problems," Rommie agreed.

"He can be fitted with a better model than previously," Andromeda suggested. "One that will give him greater connection and less feedback shocks."

"I'm sure Dylan and the others would happily fund such an operation, if Harper so wishes it," Rommie stated.

"Why would he refuse?" Andromeda showed confusion.

"It's a major operation and he's been through a lot already," Rommie defended him. "Have the others noticed yet?"

"Yes, although they are trying not to react, it doesn't directly affect them as much as it does us," Andromeda answered.

"The thought of Harper not getting his data port back," Holo-Rommie spoke up. "I can't think how we can revert back to an engineer that can not directly link to us; we have grown use to this function being available."

"It remains Harper's choice," Rommie stated. "But I'm confident he'll want to hook up to us again just as much as we want him back, working on our systems, right sister?" she looked directly at Andromeda.

"I would appreciate it if he chose to get another data port," she reluctantly agreed. "I do miss his presence."

Rommie couldn't help the knowing smile. "I'm sure he'll miss you too if he couldn't hook up, he's also an old romantic like that," she teased.

"I do feel a loss now that Harper is no longer like us, akin to losing a vital sub-routine that could have greatly benefited our operation," Andromeda suddenly spoke up.

"You had a taster of something good but I fear it would never have been permanent, Harper is too much an individual, his own person to ever allow himself to be consumed by something greater than he, after all the Abyss tried twice and failed," Rommie considered with some pride. "In his own mind, he is the greatest," she added with a smile.

"Very true," Andromeda conceded and Rommie found herself alone on command as her sisters flashed out of sight.

* * *

Trance smiled as Beka approached, and she noticed how tired the blonde captain looked. "I'm sorry to wake you but I thought you should spend some time with him, at this time."

"Where is he?" Beka asked, blinking her eyes awake.

"On the Maru, in the engineering section," Trance gestured. "He's still sedated so not quite his normal self, he's making more sense now though," the golden alien offered. "He's lightly sleeping at the moment."

"In the engineering section?" Beka frowned.

Trance shrugged. "He's happy there, I think he needs to be in a place he trusts," she offered.

"And he's ok to be off med deck?" Beka checked.

"He's perfectly ok, the trauma of his return is still a concern but physically he's as good as new," Trance assured her. "In fact he's never been in better condition."

"OK, well I guess I better see what I can do, thanks for looking after him Trance," Beka gestured.

"I didn't want to wake you too soon, but he needs a friend who can relate to him more about being human," Trance hinted, and then moved past Beka leaving her to look at the Maru before deciding to enter.

The feeling of home never left Beka whenever she stepped onto her ship, so many memories and feelings hit her each time and she never grew tired of it. A sound she never usually heard hit her now, pain filled sobs and she raced through the ship towards engineering. She found Harper in the furthest corner, his knees brought up to his chest and his face buried as his arms hugging himself, and his body was racked with sobs.

"Seamus," Beka spoke with concern as she moved to his side. Harper looked up with a tear stained face, breathing heavily between sobs and he just stared at Beka. "Come here," Beka offered and she quickly embraced the eager engineer who hugged her back with some vigour. "It'll be ok, you hear me, Seamus? Everything will be ok, I promise," she repeated as she gently rocked him in her arms, needing to believe her own words as much as Harper.

It was another five minutes before the sobs had quietened down and Harper gently pulled out of Beka's protective hold. He sat back against the bulk head, drawing his knees back up to his chest as he leaned his head against the railing that ran beside him. Beka watched over him, he looked younger and even slighter than she remembered; making her wonder whether the engine had brought back his right aged body.

"Are you ok?" Beka asked. Tiredly Harper nodded his head, a movement she barely noticed. "Are you in pain?" Again Harper nodded, and he wiped his eyes on his sleeve before taking a deep breath.

"What happened?" he then asked in barely a whisper, sounding a little shell shocked.

"I'm not sure I could explain but somehow you've had your body returned to its original state," Beka attempted.

"It hurts so much," Harper grimaced, and he forced back the tears this time, as he hugged himself tighter.

Beka tried to look sympathetic but she knew she only looked confused. "Trance believes that the shock of being human again is your pain, that it's not directly physical."

"This isn't my body," Harper then dismissed.

"I'm not sure you can exchange it," Beka offered and smiled, and was pleased when she saw Harper smirk finally, relaxing slightly. "Harper, I'm just glad your still here in some shape or form."

Harper took some deep breaths before responding. "I'd just got use to the fact I wouldn't be human again, wouldn't have to suffer like this and I'd be free."

"You're still free," Beka assured him. "And the pain will ease, and I promise to make sure you don't suffer. The past few weeks have been a nightmare for all of us and we'll never go back to those times, we've been given a second chance, Harper," Beka encouraged.

Bringing his hand to his neck, Beka saw Harper hold the area where his data port used to be, on his original body. "You can get a new one, I'm sure we have the funds," Beka lightly spoke.

Harper seemed unsure as he brought his hand away and hugged himself again. "I don't know," he offered and then looked up with a troubled frown. "I'm tired," he then stated.

"You can sleep on the Maru," Beka offered and helped him to his feet, noting how shaky he was and put it down to the sedatives still inside him. "You'll feel better after some sleep."

"Don't count on it," Harper responded, and Beka put her arm around his shoulders to lead the way.

They both stopped on seeing Tyr ahead of them, cradling his son in his arms. "He's been restless, I'm just walking him around to encourage him to sleep," Tyr offered as they both began to approach.

"This is your son?" Harper checked, as he got closer and moved to Tyr's side to get a better look.

"Tamerlane," Tyr offered Harper a better look at his young son, and his son's eyes opened to look at Harper.

"May I?" Harper asked, indicating a wish to hold the child.

"Harper you're still unsteady on your feet, maybe it's best for Tyr to keep hold of his son?" Beka nervously spoke.

"Tyr, you trust me right?" Harper asked and Tyr slowly nodded his head and transferred the boy from his arms to Harper, who expertly took a good hold on the child and cradled him in his arms. "So you're the future of the Nietzshceans?" Harper half smiled. "If only my ma and pa could see me now, cradling the reincarnation of what's his face, they'd be so proud," Harper quipped. "But I hear you saved my life," he frowned. "You're already as confusing as your dad, you know that kid?" he smiled and then handed Tyr his son back. "I need to rest," he simply said and moved past Tyr out of sight towards the bunks.

"How is he?" Tyr asked once Harper was out of earshot.

"Hard to say, he's confused, hurt and unsure of who he is," Beka offered. "But he'll be ok, I'm sure of it."

Tyr considered Beka's words and looked down at his son. "I will be leaving with my son tomorrow, I have other concerns now," he offered and then looked at Beka. "But look after Harper, and don't ever hesitate to contact me if the little professor picks up his habit of finding trouble again, never hesitate."

"I will," Beka assured Tyr, and then looked amused. "I'm sure he'll find it a comfort to know you have his back."

"My son helped him for a reason, of that I am sure and as a result I will consider Harper important to my family, that is all," Tyr stated.

"Of course, because friendship is so unlikely," Beka teased as she moved past a bemused Nietzschean.

Beka arrived in the crew quarters to find Harper already tucked under the blankets of his bunk and she moved to his side. "Are you sure you're alright?" she checked. "Do you want me to stay?"

Harper looked at her and seemed to consider her words before responding. "I shouldn't be here, should I?"

"Of course you should!" Beka dismissed.

"But," Harper began in protest. "I died, you saw me killed, you saw me as a machine and now I'm human when there's no real explanation for that is there?"

"Harper," Beka soothed, and brushed his hair back with her hand tenderly. "You are Seamus Harper, and as ever you have defied all odds and excelled beyond what you should have," she stressed with a smile. "If you'd of been killed by the Abyss, or become a part of this ships mechanics then none of us would be here right now, think about that for a moment, you being here means we're all here too, ok?" Beka said with fondness.

Harper frowned and then looked at Beka. "I want to disagree," he stated and then sighed. "But I can't, I did save the day didn't I?" he smiled smugly.

Beka lightly laughed. "Of course you did, hero, who else could have told us in step by step instructions how to defeat the Abyss, who else could have figured that out from just a bunch of memories you had implanted inside you?"

"Do you think it's a coincidence that I turned into a machine when I did, I mean," Harper paused. "There was this information that organics couldn't process but I happen to turn into machine just at that time we became aware of it and suddenly it made sense."

"What?" Beka checked.

"The information, I made out that it was my natural genius but it was mainly a computer mind that needed to calculate that stuff to make sense and once I got the implants, well, it all made sense," Harper offered tiredly. "Not even Trance could have figured it out."

"Trance," Beka repeated the alien's name.

"She's not stupid," Harper slowly smiled.

"You mean?" Beka prompted.

"Did she really try to stop what was happening, ever?" Harper questioned. "She knew before I did, why do you think she called you here to baby-sit, I was getting too close to the truth that she had to leave."

"Your brain works too hard," Beka offered, but her own mind was now running over the possibilities. "You should rest."

"I'm ok, you're right, I'll be fine," Harper stated assuredly. "Just growing pains."

"Growing pains?"

"Needing to fit the body, it's easing now, I'll be my old self tomorrow, sans data port of course, and years of exposure to crap on Earth, I'm a new man, literally," Harper grinned his trademark smile.

"And Trance planned all this?" Beka asked.

"I didn't say that," Harper spoke before turning over and settling down to sleep.

"You did," Beka protested.

"I just said she's not stupid," Harper returned, his back still to Beka. "Besides it doesn't matter does it, all any of us wanted was for things to return to normal and you'll see I'll be my usual annoying self when I wake up."

"And as far from normal as possible, trust me," Beka remarked, and then frowned. "Are you ok?"

Harper turned over and looked at her. "Yes, now let a man sleep," he stressed but saw Beka still looking unsure, and he moved to sit up, wrapping the blankets around him. "Are you ok?" he then asked knowingly.

"I've done nothing but treat you like crap," Beka stated, and felt her emotions rising.

"I've hardly made it easy for you, and haven't I already said we're cool?" Harper asked tiredly.

"But do you mean it?" Beka asked.

"Do you trust me?"

"Of course!" Beka stated.

"Then I mean it," Harper shrugged, and looked at her with conviction. "You got your wish Beka Valentine, you have your Harper back now let me sleep so I don't kill you before you've had a chance to appreciate it some more."

Beka couldn't help the smile, and she slowly nodded her head. "OK, point taken, if you need anything," she began.

"I'll call Rommie," Harper murmured from under the blankets.

"Gee thanks," Beka mocked.

"Least she lets me sleep!" Harper returned.

"I just want to be sure you're ok," Beka defended and began backing out.

"I'll be fine, go," Harper requested, but she could hear him stifling a laugh and with a huge smile Beka left Harper to rest.

* * *

"Don't say it!" Andromeda stated.

"What?" Harper looked surprised as he turned to the screen, having just completed repairs, he had been human again for nearly two days and Dylan had agreed to him returning to light duties, which Harper translated as fix the ship but don't kill yourself doing it.

"You were just about to say I'm all fixed and in perfect working order," Andromeda guessed.

"Well you are," Harper offered confused.

"The last time you said that," Andromeda began.

"Oh," Harper was quick on the uptake. "Babe, I won't ever say those words again if you don't want me to," Harper smiled. "Gee, definitely not after the last time," he frowned.

"Harper," Andromeda spoke with a different tone, and she waited for Harper to look at her before she continued. "You haven't requested a new data port to be fitted."

"I know," Harper began to walk, as he fussed with his tool belt replacing the tools he'd been using, by way of distraction.

"Are you going to?" Andromeda's hologram appeared in front of Harper and he abruptly stopped.

Harper looked around before he finally settled on looking at Andromeda. "I don't know," he admitted.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"It's not you Andromeda, I promise," Harper was quick to assure her.

"I miss you," she admitted, and looked at Harper with some doubt.

Harper took a deep breath and nervously his hand went to where his data port had once been, on his other human form. "I'm a little nervous."

"Nervous?"

"About anyone messing with my head again, the artificial stuff," Harper admitted.

"Have I made you nervous?"

"Not you," Harper dismissed immediately. "Listen Romdoll, it's not you, I promise and if anything the time I spent with you, so real and so amazing as it was, it was the only good I can remember when I was like that, so don't think this is anything to do with you. It's all about me," Harper said sincerely.

"You are human," Andromeda stated.

"Yeah, and right now I'm fully human and I just need to live this for a bit before I go and get myself kitted out with a new port," Harper stated.

"I understand."

"You do?" Harper checked unsure.

"I would love to have the choices that you have had," Andromeda revealed.

"No, trust me, you wouldn't, you think its tough being the toughest kick ass war ship in the galaxy?" Harper half smiled. "Try being a kludge, a puny little human with," Harper paused and closed his eyes. "It's so much more complicated, trust me."

"I trust you, and I trust that when you are ready you will soon be able to interface with me again," Andromeda stated.

"It's all about the interfacing with you, Romdoll, isn't it," Harper then teased. "I promise you'll have me all to yourself again one day, maybe I'll get a port that gives you even more access to the Harper, I have no shame," he continued.

"You know my reasons for wishing you better access to me," Andromeda reputed.

"Yeah, the classic old Harper loving," Harper teased some more.

"My sister was right," Andromeda shook her head both as a hologram and on screen before disappearing from sight, leaving Harper alone and wearing an amused expression.

"Now," he proclaimed. "Everything is back to normal," Harper grinned and with a simple content sigh he continued back towards command, ready to serve the Andromeda right where he belongs.

The end


End file.
